


To Win is to Lose

by somethingintheireyes



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Enemies to Lovers, Frenemies, M/M, Well not really, and oblivious, basically theyre morons in love, both of them charm the pants off of each other, but you get the picture, lots of fluff, theyre also both teases
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-07
Updated: 2016-11-25
Packaged: 2018-08-13 13:52:30
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 12
Words: 25,256
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7979038
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/somethingintheireyes/pseuds/somethingintheireyes
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“The first one to fall in love loses.” </p><p>“Heh, you picked the wrong opponent Jaeger, you’re on. ”</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. You're On

**Author's Note:**

> IDK THIS WAS SOMETHING THAT POPPED INTO MY HEAD AND I THOUGHT IT'D BE FUNNY OKAY

Eren Jaeger and Jean Kirstein, to the naked eye, appeared to be rivals. Being in the same room as each other would inevitably end in a fight, both verbal and physical. However, outside of each other’s presence, everyone knew better than to bad mouth either of them in front of the other. Both boys were in the same circle of friends, but no one dared call them friends, even though both of them would do anything for the other.

                                           

“Hey, do you think Eren and Jean are like, into each other?” Connie asked nonchalantly one day when all of them besides Jean and Eren were gathered in his room.

 

Connie Springer was a short boy with shaven hair, he was easygoing which caused him to miss a lot of things and be rather oblivious.

 

“Of course not.” Mikasa replied curtly.

 

Mikasa Ackermann was Eren’s adopted sister. She would very literally die for Eren if the situation called for it, so Eren’s “hatred” for Jean coursed through Mikasa as well.

 

“Please, you two. It’s painfully obvious that they are.” Sasha said from where she was leaning in her chair, a bag of chips in her lap.

 

Sasha Blouse was outgoing and friendly, and always snacking on something.

 

“You guys, it doesn’t really matter if they are or aren’t, it really isn’t our business.” Marco said shyly.

 

Marco Bodt was Jean’s best friend for as long as anyone could remember. When Jean showed up, so did Marco. He was quieter than the rest, but incredibly friendly and kind.

 

“I agree with Marco. If it’s true, it is, if it isn’t, it’s not. Simple as that.” Armin said in defense of his two friends.

 

Armin Arlert was Eren and Mikasa’s childhood best friend. He was incredibly smart and friendly, but was also timid, underestimating himself very frequently.

 

And that was their little group of friends. They were together since high school, now all attending Sina University together. Mikasa and Sasha were roommmates, Armin and Eren, Jean and Marco, and Connie was roomed with someone named Franz, but he wasn’t part of the group, deciding to spend every minute of every hour with his girlfriend Hanna.

 

“Eren would tell me if that were the case.” Mikasa said simply.

 

Connie sighed, “Look, all I’m sayin’ is that they flirt like second graders, with all the stupid insults that they don’t really mean. Like if you really think about it-“

 

Connie’s statement was cut off by screaming outside the door. It was ripped open, slamming against the wall outside by none other than Eren and Jean.

 

“If you would just stop being so fucking annoying, maybe I’d be nicer to you horse face!” Eren shouted at Jean.

 

Eren Jaeger was an impulsive and passionate, albeit incredibly loyal person. He got into the university with help from Armin, where he isn’t the most book smart person, his drive to do well gets him good grades.

 

“I wouldn’t be so annoying if you used your head sometimes, moron!” Jean shouted right back.

 

Jean Kirstein was a hot-headed and seemingly self-centered person, but his friends knew differently. Sure, the hot-headed part was true, but he’d do anything for his friends and just trailed Armin in grades.

 

The group stopped their conversation, looking over at the arguing duo. They glared at each other and everyone knew if they didn’t do something quickly, something was gonna be broken.

 

“What are you guys arguing about this time?” Connie asked after sighing.

 

“I was talking to a girl after class when this moron comes up and interrupts me!” Jean complained.

 

“Yeah so what? It was time to go and you guys were waiting for us! I didn’t see the problem!” Eren said angrily, stomping to sit between Armin and Mikasa on Connie’s roommate’s bed.

 

“The problem is that you don’t have enough common sense to see that she was _obviously_ into me!” Jean yelled.

 

“You say that about every girl, Jean.” Sasha said between mouthfuls of chips.

 

“I do not!” Jean retorted.

 

“You kind of do…” Marco added quietly.

 

“Not you too, Marco!” Jean exclaimed, offended that the one person who was supposed to defend him was going against him.

 

“Told you! So you overreacted and I deserve an apology.” Eren grinned smugly, crossing his hands over his chest.

 

“Please, you don’t know the first thing about love, I don’t wanna hear your two sense.” Jean scoffed.

 

“I do so!” Eren shouted.

 

“Yeah right, have you even been on a date before?” Jean asked.

 

“Of course I have!” Eren replied indignantly.

 

“I don’t count.” Mikasa chimed in.

 

The room erupted in laughter, anger boiling in Eren, “Shut up, Mikasa! And you know what, horse face, I could get anyone I wanted!”

 

Jean laughed even harder at that, “Yeah, right, you couldn’t even get a dog to love you!”

 

“If I really tried, I could even get _you_ to fall in love with me!” This caused the group of friends to all look at each other nervously.

 

“Ha, I think it’s the other way around, I am known to be quite the charmer.” Jean said with an air of confidence.

 

“Yeah, I’d just like to see you try.” Eren said challengingly.

 

The group of friends were watching intently, knowing exactly where this was going.

 

“Is that a bet?” Jean asked with a smile.

 

Betting was common between the two, it seemed that their goal was to one-up the other.

 

“Yeah, it is. First one to fall in love loses.”

 

“Heh, you picked the wrong opponent Jeager, you’re on.”

 

 


	2. Igniting the Flames

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one is kind of boring? Just wanted to start off with simple flirting before jumping into dates! Hope you like it!

Eren was in the library, studying for an upcoming exam. He had books all around him, and a coffee in front of him. He thought he was going to keel over from boredom. Just as he thought that, someone sat down next time.

 

“Hey angel, did it hurt when you fell from heaven?” Eren turned to see Jean sitting next to him, smirking.

 

Eren rolled his eyes, “Go away, I’m trying to study.” He looked down at his books, ignoring the presence next to him.

 

“Has anyone ever told you that you’re just adorable when you’re concentrating?” He could hear the amusement in Jean’s voice. It was just annoying Eren.

 

Eren sighed and looked back at him, “What are you blabbering about now?”

 

“My pick-up lines aren’t working?” Jean fake pouted.

 

 _Right, the bet,_ Eren thought to himself.

 

“No, they’re not. And I’m seriously trying to study, Jean, don’t you have anywhere else to be stupid?” Eren huffed out a breath.

 

Jean pulled his arm up to his face, checking a fake watch, “Not until four.” Grinning at him.

 

Eren rolled his eyes, not bothering to give him a real response. He looked back down at his books.

 

Jean sat there quietly, though he could feel his eyes on him the whole time. It was rather distracting. Eren closed his book as quietly and slowly as possible, breathing in and out because if he made any sudden movements, it would probably result in yelling and fist fighting, and he’d rather not get kicked out of the library.

 

“What, Jean?” Eren gave him his undivided attention.

 

Jean grinned, “I only have one question.”

 

Eren sighed, cocking an eyebrow, “And that is?”

 

“Are you free this Saturday?”

 

Eren thought for a moment, “We have team conditioning, or did you forget?”

 

Jean rolled his eyes, “Of course I didn’t forget, moron. I meant afterwards.”

 

Eren sighed, “Well, no, why?”

 

“Good then, it’s a surprise!” Jean said smiling.

 

“Just tell me, c’mon.” Eren prodded.

 

“Nope! Surprises are awesome. Well, that’s all I needed, by hot stuff!” And with that Jean left.

 

Eren sighed and opened the book again, this bet was a bad idea, all it’s going to do is give him headaches if Jean is going to be up his ass 24/7 trying to ‘win him over’. Eren snorted, like that’ll ever happen. He started reading where he left off and soon the whole conversation had left his mind.

 

~

 

Eren’s alarm rang at 5:30 am Saturday morning and he cursed the heavens and himself for deciding to be on a collegiate baseball team. He sat up, wiped the sleep out of his eyes, and glared at Armin, who was still peacefully sleeping in his bed. He was the manager of the team, so he didn’t have to go to conditioning. Only the players and the coach. He was hoping Levi wasn’t there today. He always found something to yell at Eren about. Levi was their captain, and just so happened to also be their floor RA. Coincidences are great. However, he was also in ROTC, so he usually missed Saturday conditioning, because ROTC took priority. But, when he was there, he ran them dry, giving them his specialized ROTC workouts. Their coach wasn’t even as hard on them as he was. But, Levi could get away with murder with Coach Erwin, so no one complained.

 

Eren got dressed and drank a protein shake beforehand. He grabbed his stuff and headed over to the gym. When he got there, a couple of his teammates were already there.

 

Marco, Connie, and two others, Reiner and Bertholdt, were talking by the lockers. Marco was the first to notice him, “Morning, Eren!”

 

Eren smiled back at him, “Morning Marco, guys.” He got nods from everyone else and went to his respective locker.

 

Eren was feeling a bit sore from his own personal workout yesterday, so he started to stretch a little as he talked to the other guys.

 

“Oh, baby, yeah, flex those muscles.” He heard a familiar voice whoop through the doorway.

 

Eren stopped to see Jean leaning up against the lockers. He groaned.

 

“Don’t stop on account of me. Is it just me or do you look extra good today?” Jean said as he walked over to his locker.

Eren saw the confused looks of Reiner and Bertholdt and simultaneously, Marco, Connie, and Eren all said, “Don’t ask.”

  
Reiner and Bertholdt exchanged glances and shrugged.

 

“Oi, what do you shitty brats think you’re doing? It’s six, time to get started.” The six boys blanched when they heard the voice of none other than Levi.

 

They all turned to see Levi walking toward them, expressionless, as usual, with their other teammates, Eld, Oluo, Miche, and Gunther, plus Erwin all in tow.

 

Levi, Eld, Oluo, and Miche were all seniors, so they normally stuck together. The boys jokingly called them “Squad Levi” seeing as they were never seen apart when it came to baseball.

 

They grabbed their waters and prepared for a hell of a workout.

 

~

 

Eren collapsed on the floor two hours later. His arms and legs felt like jelly, his core was on fire, and he believed he sweat out his entire body weight. Jean, Marco, and Connie looked just as worn out as he did. Reiner and Bertholdt seemingly fine, the others laughing at boys.

 

Oluo smirked, “What, the little rookies can’t handle such a workout? Please this was nothing, I would do this when I was in diapers, I could do this in my-“ His sentence was cut off when he bit his tongue.

 

His friends rolled their eyes at him, then Levi directed his attention at the boys on the ground, “Quit acting like it’s the end of the world, it was a simple workout. If you can’t handle this, then I don’t know why you decided to play collegiate level sports. Anyway, in case you idiots forgot, there’s room inspections at the end of the month. You better pray that your rooms are spotless.”

 

Eren didn’t want to say that Levi’s glare was directed at him, but Levi’s glare was directed at him.

 

After that, Levi went over their schedule for the week and left.

 

Eren sighed, “He’s out to get me I swear.” Falling onto his back and laying on the floor for a bit.

 

After he decided he could walk again, he stood up and stretched his sore muscles. They burned nicely. He gathered his things, announcing that he was going to take a twelve year long shower.

 

“Hey, wanna conserve water?” Jean said suggestively.

 

“Jean, I swear to God I will rip your dick off.” Eren growled.

 

“So I did make you think about my dick. Good, maybe this bet will be easy to win after all.” Jean said proudly.

 

“Yeah right.” Eren scoffed. He said his goodbyes and started to head out of the gym.

 

“Oi, Eren!” He heard Jean call to him.

 

He kept walking, but replied anyway, “What do you want now?”

 

“I’m picking you up around noon! Be ready!” Jean shouted back.

 

Eren paused and then groaned. He completely forgot he had plans with him. He didn’t recall ever saying yes, but it is funny watching Jean make an ass of himself trying to flirt with him. He walked back to his dorm to shower and get ready for whatever the hell Jean had planned for them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Look, I couldn't leave out Levi, I had to add him in somewhere, that man is the love of my life okay?! And I really just wanted to write Jean being purposefully cheesy and annoying to get on Eren's nerves. Anyway, this is kind of filler, we'll start getting into the good stuff next chapter. Enjoy!


	3. Takes Two to Tango

Eren sat at his desk editing an essay when he heard knocking at his door.

 

He stood up and answered the door, seeing Jean leaning with one elbow above his head on the doorframe, “What’s cookin’ good lookin’?”

 

Eren had the right mind to slam the door in his face and go back to what he was doing, but he wasn’t _that_ rude.

 

Eren double checked that he had his wallet and phone and shut the door behind him, “So, where are we going?”

 

Jean smiled down at him, “Can’t tell you.”

 

Eren groaned, “Seriously, I’m here, I’m obviously going with you. So just tell me. I don’t even know if I’m prepared!”

 

Jean looked him up and down, Eren feeling a bit uncomfortable under his eyes, “You’re fine, you don’t need anything.”

 

Eren sighed and followed him. They reached a studio on campus, and there were some people inside. One was a girl he recognized, she sometimes met Levi and his friends after practice, and he thinks he’s seen her on the bleachers.

 

She bounded over to Jean, “Hey, Jean! Glad you could make it!”

She had short reddish blonde, shoulder length hair, amber eyes and sweet smile. She was wearing a flowing olive green dress that reached her knees.

 

Jean smiled back at her, “You know I never miss your classes, Petra!”

 

She looked over at Eren, “So, you must be Eren, I’m Petra.” Eren shook her hand, “Jean really wasn’t joking about bringing you here huh?”

 

“Unfortunately, I don’t know where _here_ is.” He glared up at Jean.

 

Petra giggled, “We’re ballroom dancing.”

 

Eren’s eyes nearly bulged out of his head, “I’m sorry, _what?_ ”

 

Jean and Petra started laughing.

 

Petra calmed down and said, “Yep. You heard me correctly.”

 

Eren blinked at the two of them in shock.

 

Petra smiled sweetly, “It’s okay if you don’t know how to dance.”

 

Eren blushed and looked down, “That’s not it.” He said indiginantly.

 

“So, you do know how to dance?” Jean said crossing his arms, knowing full well he didn’t.

 

Eren glared at him and didn’t reply.

 

Petra sighed at the two of them, smiling, “Don’t worry, I’ll go easy on you. Besides, I think Jean just wants to show off to someone.”

 

Jean blushed and snapped at her, “Not true, Petra!”

 

She giggled and clapped her hands together, “Well, should we start?”

 

Much to Eren’s chagrin, him and Jean were partners, which he shouldn’t be surprised since this was Jean’s attempt at trying to woo him. And it wasn’t like he cared it was Jean, it’s not like he has personal space issues or touching other people issues, it was the fact that because Jean was taller, he had to take the female’s spot and be ‘lead’ by Jean. Something Jean took a lot of pride in.

 

“I didn’t know you danced.” Eren said as they moved together, still looking at the ground, afraid he was going to trip over his own feet.

 

He felt Jean shrug, “Initially it was just to get the ladies, every girl wants a man who can dance. But, I actually came to really like it, it’s nice being able to do something a lot of people can’t do, and you get a lot of satisfaction when you overcome something complicated.”

 

Eren was satisfied with that response and continued to make sure he didn’t fall flat on his face.

 

After a while, Eren felt like he got the hang of it and could move fluidly with Jean.

 

Petra announced that they could get a water break and him and Jean walked over to the side. Jean digging two water bottles out, giving one to Eren. He hadn’t realized how complicated ballroom dancing was. They went over simple steps for the fox trot, the waltz, and a cha cha.

 

Petra came over and looked at Eren, “So, how’re you enjoying it so far?”

 

Eren smiled up at her, “It’s actually a lot of fun! It’s more complicated than I thought it would be, I’m really impressed that you can do this stuff.”

 

Petra smirked at him, “Oh, you haven’t seen anything yet. Jean?”

 

Jean’s eyes lit up and he followed Petra, telling Eren he’d be right back.

 

He saw them stop at the stereo, talking for a bit, before pressing play on a song he’s never heard before. It had Hispanic influences, he could tell. Jean walked away from Petra, stopping about midway on the floor. He looked over his shoulder at Eren, smiling smugly. The conversation of the others stopped as they watched.

 

Petra walked over, swinging her hips, and when she reached Jean, she braced her hands on his thigh, and he spun her effortlessly over his shoulder, catching her legs which were on either side of his hips. He then pushed her legs up so she did basically a back flip back over his shoulder, landing on the ground.

 

Everyone gasped, including Eren. He watched the pair as they continued to dance together, moving quickly and spinning around a lot. He was more than impressed. He was in awe.

 

He never knew someone could move that quickly and fluidly together. Eren would be lying if he said he wasn’t watching Jean most of the time. He never know that this horse-faced asshole could move like _that._ A blush spread across his cheeks and he reprimanded his thoughts.

 

He watched Petra go into a handstand, legs bent spread and bent at 90 degree angles, as Jean swiftly caught one her of legs, keeping her in place. The song paused and everyone there erupted in applause.

 

However, it wasn’t over yet. They started back up, moving quickly and doing crazy tricks. Jean jumped over Petra’s head, landing, locking eyes with Eren and winking, before spinning around to face Petra.

 

It ended with a move that looked like Jean had yanked Petra to the floor, and they stayed like that for a minute, breathing heavily.

 

Everyone cheered when they got up and hugged.

 

Jean walked back to Eren while Petra was bombarded by the other classmates.

 

“So?” He asked smilingly confidently?

 

“You were, I mean, that was amazing.” Eren said, quickly correcting himself.

 

Jean smirked, “Yeah, I bet you couldn’t take your eyes off of me.”

 

Before Eren had a chance to reply, Petra came over and smacked the back of his head, “Oh shut up, you’re too much of an attention whore.”

 

“Petra!” Jean whined as he rubbed the back of his neck.

 

Petra smiled at Eren, “That’s what happens with lots of practice. Cool huh?”

 

Eren beamed at her, “Cool is too much of an understatement. You guys are fantastic!”

 

Petra smiled back, “Why thank you! But don’t go telling that to this one too much, he already has a big enough ego.”

 

Jean groaned as Petra walked away, announcing they were going to do a tango next.

 

Eren blanched. Okay, the other types are fine, but this one requires you to be basically glued to your partner. He was less okay with that.

 

Jean must’ve read his mind, “Scared, Jeager?”

 

Eren glared at him, “You wish.”

 

He jumped up and grabbed Jean’s hand, leading him to the dancefloor.

 

They started simple and slow. However, Jean decided it would be funny to amp it up a bit after he felt that Eren got the hang of it. He commanded the floor, with Eren in tow. Eren was blushing at how close their faces were and how it felt to give his control over to Jean. He felt so powerful compared to Eren at this moment, seeing as he was leading, and it wasn’t good for his thoughts. Eren started shouting profanities at himself in his mind, but everything stopped when Jean suddenly pulled away, forced Eren into a turn, shoved his leg between Eren’s thighs, and dipped him, face scarily close.

 

Eren blinked up at him, breath caught in his throat at the shock. Jean was leaning above him, smirking like usual, and Eren’s heart was pounding in his chest.

 

“I kind of like this view.” Jean said lowly.

 

Eren blushed and averted his gaze.

 

Jean pulled them back up, and he heard Petra call him a show off.

 

They continued the class, however, Eren was in a bit of a daze at that point.

 

Before he knew it, the class had ended and Petra was thanking everyone for coming. She came over to the pair and looked at Eren, “So, did you enjoy it?”

 

Eren was breathing heavily, sweat beading at his temples, “Yeah it was great!”  


She glanced at the clock on the wall, “I gotta go, but I really hope I see you here again, Eren! Nice meeting you! See you next week Jean!”

 

They gave their goodbyes to Petra and left.

 

“So, how was it really?” Jean asked, seeming timid suddenly.

 

“What, did you think I was lying?” Eren said, a bit offended.

 

Jean shrugged, “Dancing isn’t everyone’s favorite, I know. It’s just something I really like, not many people in our group know I do it.”

 

Eren felt a twinge in his chest knowing that Jean was letting him in on a part of his life not many people knew about.

 

“And, its not like I’m ashamed, it’s just that a lot of people don’t get it, so I don’t announce it when I meet someone new. If the topic comes up, it comes up.”

 

Eren looked at Jean and smiled reassuringly, “In all honesty, it was fantastic. And you are an amazing dancer. I didn’t know a horse like you could dance that well!”  
  
Jean glared at him and pushed his shoulder, but Eren could see the small smile on his lips.

 

Eren lightly punched his shoulder, “But don’t get a big head. This was great, sure, but I can definitely top this.”

 

Jean snorted, “I’d like to see you try.”

 

Eren smirked to himself, oh just wait Jean, just wait.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, this chapter was a bit self indulgent because damn, do I really love me some Dancer!Jean. This (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9CYTP6-F6kM) is the dance that Petra and him do, because just imagining Jean dancing like Derek does things to me, and apparently Eren too ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) ANYWHO i hope you guys liked this chapter! :D


	4. Playing with my Heartstrings

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND HOW MUCH FUN IT WAS TO WRITE THIS OKAY this was also longer than I had orginally intended but whatevaaaaaa

Jean was lounging on his bed, reading a book when he was suddenly interrupted with a sharp knock on his door. He sighed, finished his sentence, bookmarked his page and stood up, going to answer it.

 

He we met with Eren standing there, hands clasped behind his back, grinning widely.

 

 _Right, we’re having lunch together today_ he thought to himself. Monday’s were lax for him, Eren however having a tighter schedule. He mentioned this to Eren and he just shrugged saying that he has to eat at some point. The answer was good enough for Jean, the only problem being he had a mild headache and was rather tired, but he’s a man of his word.

 

“Ready to go?” Eren asked brightly. Jean thought he faintly reminded him of a puppy.

 

Jean shrugged, “As I’ll ever be.” And shut the door behind him.

 

They walked, Eren blabbering on about how stupid the class he just had was, Jean just nodding and saying ‘mhm’ when he deemed necessary. He wasn’t trying to be rude, he just wasn’t in a talkative mood.

 

Eren picked up on it, “What’s wrong? Your sarcastic asshole-y comments are lacking Jean-boy.”

 

He grimaced at the nickname, “I don’t always have a smart ass comment y’know.”

 

Eren snorted, “Coulda fooled me.”

 

Jean just rolled his eyes and walked next to Eren. He was annoyed and he could feel that Eren was looking at him. He told himself to ignore it and took in a deep breath.

 

“You sure you’re okay?” Eren asked, his tone much softer than before.

 

It kind of surprised Jean, not everyone can be an asshole twenty four seven, he thought to himself.

 

“Just a bit of a headache, and ‘m kinda tired is all.” Jean said nonchalantly.

“Oh… we can reschedule if you want, or we don’t even have to go, I hate you but I’m not that much of a dick to drag you somewhere you don’t wanna go.” Jean detected guilt and a bit of sadness in his tone. He assumed the dig about their relationship was to make him seem not caring. The statement warmed his heart.

 

Jean smiled at Eren, “Don’t worry about it, I should probably eat.”

 

“You sure?” Eren asked, a worried tone to his voice.

 

The way Eren was talking to him and treating him was stirring something inside of Jean that he’d rather not think about, so he waved him off, “Positive, now quit bugging me before I change my mind.” He tried to cover the small smile that was about to come out with a scowl and a rude remark.

 

Yet again, Eren saw through it and replied, “Whatever you say.” He ended the statement with a giggle and Jean’s heart definitely did not flutter.

 

They walked in comfortable silence for a bit before Eren piped up, “Oh, were here!”

 

Jean noticed it was a small café that was on campus. He’d been meaning to try it, but never got around to it.

 

They were greeted by a familiar short girl with blonde hair and stunning blue eyes, “Oh, hi Eren!”

 

Eren smiled, “Hey, Christa.”

 

The name reminded Jean of who she was, she lived down the hall with Reiner and Bertholdt, but that group rarely came around to their area.

 

Christa directed her attention to Jean, “You’re Jean Kirstein right?”

 

Her voice was high pitched and he had to admit she was probably the most adorable thing he’d ever seen, “Yeah, you live down the hall correct?”

 

She beamed at him, “You do know me! Good! Reiner and Bertholdt have told me lots of good things about you! How about I get you two a table?”

 

They followed her to a table next to the windows. He looked around, it was a fairly simple and regular looking café but it had a certain charm to it. On one side of the room there was a white piano with hanging plants above it, and on the other side a small brick fireplace for winter.

 

She placed menu’s down in front of them and directed her attention to Eren, “I’m guessing you want the regular, huh?”

 

Eren smiled brightly at her, “You know me too well Christa.”

 

She giggled, “What would you like to drink Jean?”

 

“I’ll just have a water, thank you.” Jean said politely.

 

“Coming right up!” She said and walked away.

 

“I love this place.” Eren said, looking around with a certain fondness adorning his features.

 

“It is really nice. I’ve been meaning to try it out.” Jean said, watching Eren. It was different seeing him in a non abrasive form. He’d catch glimpses of it when he saw him hanging out with Mikasa and Armin, but his expression always turned sour when he was around. He didn’t mind it. Well, at the time. He kind of did now, knowing this is what Eren was like when he wasn’t trying to beat the shit out of him.

 

Christa came back with their drinks, and Jean ordered. The two of them talked, and when their food came out, ate their sandwiches. Jean laughed at how they both got healthier foods on the menu, not that either of them were health conscious or anything, just baseball caused them both to take better care of their bodies. The more they talked, the more both boys opened up to each other, Jean finding that he really enjoyed just talking with Eren. He was passionate and his eyes lit up whenever he talked about anything he really liked. He found it endearing that his voice involuntarily raised when he talked about something that really excited him. Jean hated to admit it, but he was kind of regretting not trying to get to know Eren back in high school.

 

They had finished their food, and Eren stood up.

 

“Are we leaving?” Jean asked, trying to keep the disappointed tone out of his voice.

 

Eren beamed at him, his eyes sparkling. He couldn’t tell what Eren was thinking, or what he was doing, but he did know that he could stare at those eyes forever.

 

 _Wait what the hell am I thinking?_ Jean mentally shook his brain around as if he was trying to dislodge the thought.

 

Eren walked over bowed his head, and held out his hand to Jean, “Will the prince please come with me?” Eren put on his best innocent smile and Jean’s heart definitely fluttered that time. He didn’t know what Eren was planning but he put his hand in Eren’s.

 

He heard Christa squeal, “Oh, Eren are you going to-“

 

Eren spun around, put a finger up to his mouth and winked at Christa, who clapped her hands and giggled in response. Damn, she was adorable.

 

He let Eren lead him across the café when they stopped in front of the piano, Eren sitting down, gesturing for Jean to sit next to him.

 

Eren adjusted his posture, stretched out his shoulders a bit, cracked his knucles, and laid his fingers on the the keys.

 

He started playing a light tune, fingers moving quickly over the keys. Jean immediately recognized the tune, “Für Elise?”

 

Eren nodded, “You like classical?”

 

“Well, we hear it a lot in dance class.” Jean said, completely enraptured in the sound and the movement of Eren’s hands.

 

“Should’ve figured.” And with that he continued. Jean was more than impressed when Eren effortlessly flew through the notes. The song ended before Jean was prepared for it to, and when it ended he heard the few patrons in it clap, Christa’s heard above everyones.

 

“I didn’t know you could play.” Jean said in awe.

 

Eren blushed a little and shrugged, “You have your secret talent, I have mine. It’s calming, my mind is a bit overactive and it causes me a lot of stress, so playing piano helps get it out.”

 

Jean was shocked that Eren revealed personal information like that, “That’s really impressive, one that you can do that, and two that you can deal with something like that easily.”

 

Eren smiled, “It’s nothing.”

 

Jean pressed on, “No, really, it’s great.”

 

Eren’s blush deepened but then the fire in his eyes returned full force, a grin spreading across his face, “You had your turn to show off, here’s mine.”

 

He spun around back to the piano and took a deep breath, it started off with four slow notes, suddenly picking up rapid speed. Jean had never seen anyone play the piano that quickly, Eren’s hands moving swiftly, never missing a key, body moving to keep up with the pace of the song. Jean hadn’t heard this one before, but he could tell this was an insanely difficult piece. Eren’s face was pure concentration, and Jean was completely awe-struck. He’d never seen something so amazing in his entire life.

 

He checked to see if Eren was struggling, but the further he got into the song, the more he started smiling. A bead of sweat was on his temple, but Jean could tell that he was having the time of his life.

Jean was almost hypnotized by the way his hands glided across the keys, moving so quickly that he was wondering how he even managed to press the keys.

 

He was startled out of his trance at the end of the song which ended with him slamming his hands down on as many keys as possible.

 

At the end he was breathing heavily, and the café erupted in applause and shock. Eren looked over at Jean, positively beaming, pride radiating off of him.

 

Jean was completely speechless, “I – uh, you, wow.”

 

Eren’s smile was practically splitting his face, “That’s my favorite song to play. Took me _years_ to learn it. It’s called the Death Waltz.”

 

Jean snorted, “I can see why. God, Eren you’re amazing.”

 

Eren blushed and looked down, shrugging, the pride sinking back inside of him. Jean was suddenly worried that Eren couldn’t see just how talented he wasm so he grabbed one of his hands, and cupped his cheek with the other, Eren’s attention snapping up.

 

“I mean it, with genuine sincerity. You are incredibly talented and that was astonishing.” Jean made sure to emit as much honesty as he could into his voice so Eren would understand.

 

Eren’s eyes were wide as he blinked back at Jean, they shone with something that Jean couldn’t place, but it certainly made his heart stammer in his chest. He suddenly realized their position and blushed, removing his hands.

 

Eren looked back at the piano and Jean was mentally freaking out over just _why_ he did that.

 

Eren pulled out his phone, checking the time, placing it on the piano and looking back at Jean. He had an expression Jean couldn’t place, as he said, “I’ve got some more time to kill. Any requests?”

 

Jean sat for a second, “Clair de Lune.”

 

“Debussy, huh?” Eren blushed, “That’s one of my favorites actually.”

 

“Really? It’s my favorite too.” Jean said, shocked. He didn’t know Eren had this side of him, and Jean absolutely adored it. Wait, no he didn’t. He _didn’t._

 

Eren turned back to the piano, placing his hands on the keys again, this time moving much slower and more languidly.

 

The notes were resonating with Jean, wrapping him in Eren’s presence, the softness of this part of Eren that he had let him in. He didn’t realize he had moved closer to Eren, his insides feeling warm, and content. They sat like that, Eren playing the piano, Jean reveling in Eren’s spirit and emotions that fell with each note, for what felt like an eternity, them in their own world together, Jean not realizing what was opening up and welcoming Eren in entirely.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am SUCH a sucker for pianists, and just imagining Eren secretly being able to play hella well just makes my heart soar, and apparently Jean's too. If you guys haven't heard of the Death Waltz, PLEASE look it up on youtube, it's my all time favorite, it's RIDICULOUS and the fact that some people can actually play it, just is wow. If you couldn't tell I adore classical music and am a HUGE debussy fan (fuck off twilight) and this song has always had a special place in my heart. ANYWAY, ANOTHER SELF-INDULGENT CHAPTER BECAUSE I LIKE WRITING MY FAVORITE CHARACTERS DOING MY FAVORITE THINGS *THROWS THIS IN YOUR FACE AND RUNS AWAY*


	5. Domesticalities

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> THIS HAS BEEN BUBBLING IN MY BRAIN FOR WHAT FEELS LIKE CENTURIES *throws chapter at you*

Eren was studying for his upcoming calculus exam and he was completely done. He was lost, not knowing how to do an upwards of half of these problems. He was frustrated, tired, and felt a mild headache coming on. He groaned loudly and let his head fall to his desk.

 

He hadn’t noticed Jean walking past his open door who saw his display of aggravation.

 

“That’s not the type of moan I wanna hear from you, Jaeger.” Jean said with a smirk and leaning against the doorframe.

 

Eren sighed tiredly, he didn’t have the energy or patience to deal with him, “Please just leave me alone Jean.”

 

“Wow, no insulting names? Nothing thrown at my head? Something must really be wrong.” Jean said chuckling.

 

Eren growled, “I will throw my stapler at your forehead if you really want me to.”

 

Jean smiled, “That’s the Eren I know, now what’s wrong?” He walked into the room walking behind Eren’s chair.

 

Eren flailed wildly making pained noises. Jean looked at Eren then at his desk and put two and two together, “Oh, you’re having trouble with calc.”

 

Eren let out a defeated sigh, letting his arms drop back at his sides, head never lifting once.

 

Jean put his hand on his shoulder, “I can help if you want?”

 

Eren shook his head, “’m waiting for armin.” His voice was muffled due to it being pressed against the desk, but Jean understood.

 

He feigned offence, “I’m hurt, do you think I’m not smart enough to help you?”

 

Eren lifted a hand and held up a thumbs up.

 

Jean scoffed and lightly smacked the back of Eren’s head, who emitted a giggle.

 

“I can help while you wait, the more you put it off the less you’re gonna wanna do.”

 

Eren lifted his head wearily, “Nah, go do whatever you were doing before, I can wait, maybe try and do it by myself.”

 

Jean noticed that the end of the statement trailed off into nervousness and insecurity. Jean sighed, walked over to Armin’s desk, dragging his chair next to Eren’s and plopping down on it, “So, where are you right now?”

 

Eren looked surprised, “Jean I said-“

 

Jean cut him off, “And _I_ said I wanted to help. Now, where are you?”

 

Eren’s eyes sparkled a bit when he looked at Jean, which caused Jean’s heart to flutter a bit. He looked insecure but grateful. He must really be struggling, Jean thought to himself.

 

Jean had taken the level of calculus Eren is in the previous semester. He was in the same math class as Armin, so they were on the same knowledge level. Jean had always been smart, not needing to study as hard as everyone to get good grades. He hated bragging about it though, he got embarrassed when anyone even brought it up. As much as he chalked up his “self-centered exterior”, he didn’t like discussing class rank because in college that’s a rather touchy topic with some people. He didn’t like _actually_ making people feel inferior. However, his intelligence came in handy sometimes, such as now. Eren was looking up at him with and awe-struck gaze that caused his face to heat up and his insides to twist.

 

“Wow, I never thought about it that way, now it makes a lot more sense!” Eren beamed up at him, a genuinely happy and excited grin stretched across his face, “Let me try some problems myself!” He said excitedly.

 

Eren quickly got to work, and Jean watched him, elbow against the desk, cheek resting in his hand, a small, fond smile on his lips. When Eren concentrated, the tip of his tongue peeked out between his lips. When he would think he’d tap the eraser of his pencil against his nose lightly. When he’d get frustrated at a problem he couldn’t figure out, his brow furrowed and he chewed on his bottom lip.

 

Jean was too busy staring at Eren, and Eren was too busy working to notice Armin pause at the door, giving the pair a small, knowing smile, and walking away, not wanting to bother the two.

 

After a while, Eren finally exclaimed he was finished with the set of problems.

 

Eren caught Jean’s gaze and asked, “What?”

 

Jean flushed a bit, having been caught staring, “Nothing, nothing, here let me check.”

 

He checked over Eren’s work, while Eren leaned over his shoulder to look at Jean’s corrections. The close proximity was causing Jean to lose a bit of focus, noticing that Eren smelled faintly of cinnamon and soap. It was an odd, but nice combination.

 

He had finished, and proudly showed Eren that he only got a two wrong, compared to getting nearly half wrong before.

 

He saw excitement practically overflowing in Eren’s eyes, he was beaming at Jean and he suddenly threw his arms around Jean saying, “thank you thank you thank you!”

 

Jean tensed up out of surprise, and maybe habit because whenever Eren got this close this quickly he was usually about to get hit. As soon as he was going to reciprocate, Eren jolted back a deep flush on his cheeks, “I – I’m sorry, I just got excited.”

 

Jean was going to stick to the idea that Eren was a puppy, “It’s fine.” Jean cleared his throat, noticing the pitching was off a bit, “I’m glad I could help.”

 

Eren smiled back at him, “I’m really glad I decided to let you, well more like you forced yourself into helping me, because where I love Armin and am so grateful for his help, he talks too much like a teacher, too… _smartly_ and I just still don’t get it sometimes. He’s really patient and we get it eventually, but you talk… normally? I guess? I don’t know, I just like the way you explain things.”

 

Jean blushed, and Eren pushed out his next statement rushed and blushing, “Wouldyouhelpmestudymore?”

 

He averted his gaze and Jean sat there grinning, “Of course! I enjoyed this a lot.”

 

Eren looked back at him, beaming again, “Let’s keep going then!”

 

Jean’s heart fluttered again, “Yeah, let’s.”

 

After a while, they came across a word problem mentioning some girl baking cookies.

 

“Wow, I could really go for some cookies right now.” Eren said absently.

 

Jean thought about it, “Hmm, me too.”

 

Eren suddenly perked up, “Hey, Armin has some baking supplies that he says I could use whenever, how about we go make some cookies?”

 

Jean could practically see his dog ears standing on end and tail wagging excitedly, Jean smiled fondly, “We’ve been studying for a while, I think a break would be good.”

 

~

 

After they gathered the ingredients, and pulled up a recipe one of their phones, Eren started blaring some pop station and they got to work.

 

They worked for about five minutes before Jean got an idea. He was mixing together dry ingredients, Eren was beating the wet ingredients. He smirked evilly as he dipped a hand in the flower bag, and coated his hands in flour. He snuck over to Eren, making sure to not be noticed by him. He was dancing to some song, and Jean pounced, placing two open hands on Eren’s pec’s and jumping away.

  
Eren squealed and looked down, “Kirstein!”

 

Jean was doubled over in laughter when Eren turned around with a half-annoyed, half-amused look on his face, “Seriously?”

 

There were two white hand prints on his chest, and the sight was so hilarious to Jean that he thought his sides were going to split open.

 

Eren looked back at the mixer, and he noticed that his ingredients were almost done, he turned around to shoot another glare at Jean, “I’ll get you back for that.”

 

Jean had calmed down, wiping tears from his eyes, and grabbed the bowl with the dry ingredients just as Eren was finishing up.

 

“Add that in there gradually, I gotta wash my hands.” Eren said, gesturing down to his egg covered hands. Jean grimaced at them and nodded. He started working on that while Eren washed his hands. He heard the water turn on, but as soon as he started the mixer, the sound was drowned out. After a bit, he was going to turn to the sink to say something when he felt a sharp smack to his ass.

 

Jean practically jumped six feet in the air and he spun around to face Eren who was standing with his arms crossed, smirking. He waved a flour covered hand at Jean. Jean looked over his shoulder at his ass, which now had a sting and a white handprint.

 

He glared at Eren who shrugged and said, “Well I did warn you.”

 

Jean looked over at the cookie mix, which was now finished, and smirked back at Eren, “That was a mistake.” He grabbed a handful of flour and Eren knew exactly what he was going to do, squeaked and dodged the throw, running to a different part of the kitchen.

 

“Jaeger, get back here and accept your punishment!” Jean said laughing.

 

“ _Punishment?!_ I was just getting you back for what you did to me! That’s totally unfair!” He was also laughing as Jean chased him. Jean grabbed at handful of Hershey’s chocolate off the table to throw one by one at Eren. Eren started shielding himself and got slower.

 

Jean eventually caught him, wrapping his arms around Eren’s squirming figure, “Caught you!”

 

After a bit of struggling, Eren finally gave up and went limp in his arms, “Now what?”

 

Jean sat there for a little, realizing that he didn’t think about what he was going to do. An idea suddenly popped into his head, he put on the best poker face he could and said, “Can I give you a kiss?”

 

Eren’s eyes flew open and he sputtered, turning bright red. Jean broke into a huge smile at his reaction, “Look down.”

 

Eren slowly looked down, still bright red, eyes catching on something silver in Jean’s now opened hand.

 

Jean could practically feel the realization and Eren started freaking out at getting the punchline of the joke. He flailed and Jean let go of him, once again laughing at how easy it was to fluster Eren.

 

They stopped messing around enough to put the cookies on trays and put them in the oven. Jean leaned against the counter, and Eren did the same, until he got bored and started singing along with a song that was playing on the radio. He was dancing around the kitchen, singing into a whisk microphone which was covered in cookie dough.

 

Jean’s heart felt like it was about to burst as he watched Eren prance around the kitchen having a great time. He could really get used to doing small things like this with him. He really liked Eren when they weren’t arguing.

 

Eren skipped over, and pouted at Jean, “You’re being boooooring!”

 

Jean laughed and noticed that because of using the dirty whisk as a mic, he had a bit of cookie dough on his nose, “and you’ve made a mess.”

 

He lifted his hand up, wiped it off of his nose with his thumb and brought it up to his mouth. Eren stared at him in shock, and Jean just realized what he had done. They were both staring at each other in embarrassed silence, when the beep of the oven broke the tension.

 

They both blinked and nervously giggled and went over and got the cookies out of the oven.

 

They let them cool before moving them, not to break them. After they had cooled, Eren ate one, exclaiming how good they were. He grabbed another one, and stuck half of it in his mouth, to hold it there as he went to bookmark the recipe.

 

Jean watched and saw the cookie and suddenly a very mischevious smile lit up his features. He walked over, grabbed Eren’s chin and said, “Then let me try.”

 

He leaned it, Eren’s eyes widening, and bit the other half of the cookie, their noses brushing together.

 

Jean leaned back, feigning nonchalance, “They are good!”

 

Eren was shocked, sputtering and blushing all over again.

 

“Y-You need to stop!” Eren finally got out.

 

Jean smirked at his reaction, “I have no clue what you’re talking about about.” He let an innocent smile form on his lips. For some reason he really liked working Eren up. He denied when his brain brought up that Eren was cute when he was flustered, and just dumbed it down to loving to play pranks on his friends.

 

Eren glared at him, “You know, _that!”_

 

Jean’s smile turned into a smirk, “Why, Eren dear, you’re going to have to be more specific if you want an answer.”

 

Eren was getting aggravated, clearly trying to avoid saying anything. He saw Eren’s mouth open to reply, when he heard a different voice from behind him.

 

“I smell cookies!” They both looked over at Sasha, who of course would be the first one in the communal kitchen. Before they both knew it, the kitchen was full of their friends. They both looked a bit disappointed as soon as they weren’t alone anymore.

 

Eren had elected the two of them go back to study, and they both grabbed a handful of cookies each before Sasha devoured them all, and headed back to Eren’s room.

 

Jean had noticed that Eren now had a lingering smell of cookies on him, to add to the cinnamon and soap from before, now that he was leaning over his shoulder to watch him work. He thought that the smell suited him a lot, because Eren’s presence was warm and welcoming. Well, when he wasn’t trying to kill him.

 

They stayed like that for a few more hours, when they both realized they were exhausted. Eren stretched, and Jean heard the joints in his shoulders pop. He let out a harsh breath as he lowered his arms down again “It’s getting late, don’t you have an eight am tomorrow?”Eren said to Jean, yawning.

 

Jean cocked his head at Eren, “Yeah, how’d you know that?”

 

Eren flushed and looked down, “Oh, you just mentioned it at some point.”

 

Jean’s stomach gave a little flip on how Eren remembered something small like that.

 

Eren must’ve known where Jean’s thought process was going because he interrupted him, “Thank you again for studying with me.”

 

Jean smiled warmly at Eren, “It’s really no problem. It also helps me further solidify the basics for the more complicated problems. So, it’s a win-win!” Jean wasn’t going to mention that he would spend hours just sitting with Eren. He wasn’t even going to admit it to himself.

 

Eren smiled back at him, “I’m really glad.” They sat there like that, just drinking in each other’s presence, sitting in comfortable silence. It was obvious that neither boy wanted to leave.

 

Eventually Jean sighed, his heart whining at his decision to leave, “Well, ‘m going to bed, I’ll see you tomorrow though.” Jean didn’t know why he had to clarify that, but it calmed his heart down, and when he saw Eren smile brightly he didn’t regret saying it.

 

Jean left and went to his own room, noticing Marco was already sleeping. He was one to sleep early, so he wasn’t surprised. Jean changed out of his dirty clothes, smiling stupidly at the handprint on his jeans and got into bed.

 

He didn’t fall asleep smiling. He also didn’t fall asleep with on hand above his heart. And he most definitely did not fall asleep smelling cookies and thinking about sparkling blue-green eyes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So my friend was making fun of me because I get as excited about my ideas as you guys do about the finished product, buT HOW CAN I NOT WHEN THESE TWO ARE JUST SO ADORABLE AND GAAAAAH. So have some cute studying and baking things because how else do you fall in love with/get someone to fall in love with you unintentionally? Thank you guys for the continuous support!! :D


	6. Chapter Six

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one is a little short, but it's the leeway into the climax, so doN'T HATE ME PLEASE~

Eren was in a… weird mood. He couldn’t place what it was. He wasn’t in a bad mood, but he wouldn’t say he was in a good mood either. And he knew _exactly_ who was to blame. The one person who he couldn’t stop thinking about for some fucking reason. _Jean._ His brain thought it would be hilarious to replay the events yesterday and add comments such as, _Jean is really smart; his presence feels really nice, especially when he’s leaning over you to look at your work; is it just me or was he flirting with me when we were baking? And that cookie thing left him absolutely breathless._ He couldn’t get his brain to shut up. He was annoyed at his brain, but his heart was light and beating irregularly. He didn’t know what was wrong with him, and he didn’t particularly like it. Especially if it really was because of Jean’s doing.

 

He was grumbling to himself as he tried to read an article that was handed out in his Literature class, but not being able to focus. He couldn’t get a specific blond off his mind. He roughly went to turn the page, causing the page to bite into the skin of his fingertip. He hissed in pain, letting out a string of curses, shaking out his hand before looking at his pulsing finger. A thin line of red was across his finger tip and he practically growled at the paper for cutting him. He stuck his finger in his mouth to stop the bleeding a bit, and wracked over his mind as to where the band-aides were. It clicked that they kept them in the bathroom, noting that he should probably take some and put them in his desk or something.

 

He walked into the communal bathroom, and started looking on the shelves for them.

 

“Looking for something?” He heard from behind him. Eren turned around in shock, not hearing anyone in the bathroom. Most people had class around this time, he was one of the few on the floor that had night classes that day.

 

He was about to respond when he stood there in shock. It was Jean, who had just gotten out of the shower. He was toweling his hair off with a small towel, the motion causing the muscles to move in his completely _bare and dripping wet_ chest. Jean was built very nicely, which was to be expected due to the training Levi makes them do, but Jesus Christ he was not expecting him to look fucking amazing. There was another towel that hung on his hips and it really did not leave anything to the imagination.

 

“Hello?” Jean said smirking at Eren, who was very clearly staring and practically drooling as well.

 

Eren blinked and shook his head a little, tearing his eyes away from the body in front of him, “I – uh- band-aide – paper cut – um” He held up his finger to show his reasoning, seeing as he couldn’t speak.

 

He heard Jean chuckle, and – whoa wait that shouldn’t have sounded as close as it did. Eren dared to turn around again, and when he did, Jean was standing right in front of Eren, which was not good because he was now very wet and very close to Eren and, okay is that a happy trail? Eren was in hyper drive when suddenly all his systems crashed as Jean took his finger, examined it, and put it in his mouth.

 

Eren gaped at him as he looked at Jean, whose eyes were gleaming mischievously as he lightly sucked on the digit, swirling his tongue around it. Eren’s heart was in his throat, he wasn’t breathing, hell he’d be surprised if he could form a coherent thought. He watched as Jean never broke eye contact, and slowly sunk down to the ground. This new angle of view was seriously not helping Eren’s train of thought, but he was completely frozen, gaze caught in Jean’s firey one, and if he even tried to move he’d probably just fall over. He didn’t notice that Jean had reached behind him on one of the lower shelves, grabbing something and standing back up. He released Eren’s finger with a pop, and yeah Eren was about to die. He brought Eren’s hand down and wiped his saliva off on the towel on his hips. Jean had a perfectly good towel on his shoulder, but _no_ he just _had_ to use the one on his waist. The action caused the towel to loosen a bit, and droop down a little further on his hips. Eren pulled his gaze up and looked at the ceiling, looking anywhere but down or at Jean. He felt something tight around his finger, which caught him by surprise, and he looked down and saw Jean had put a band-aide on his finger.

 

He finally caught Jean’s gaze again, who had a huge smirk on his face and his eyes shone with smugness. He placed a light kiss to Eren’s finger and said, “all better.”

 

Eren stood in shock as Jean walked away, to stand back in front of the mirrors. Eren was practically glued to the floor, that is until Jean’s hands went to the towel on his hips, untying it. Eren almost sprinted out of the bathroom back to his room, slammed the door shut and threw himself on his desk chair.

 

His head dropped to the desk with a loud thump, somewhere in the back of his mind he thought that it hurt, but everything else was completely not fucking working. He gathered himself and groaned into the wood. _He was fucked._ He vowed to payback Jean for his “services”. How, he didn’t know, but Jean was going to _regret it._

 

~

Jean was bored and it was around 9 pm and he couldn’t get his brain to shut up, so he decided to go to the gym. On his walk there, he recounted what he had done earlier in the day. Initially, he was very proud of himself for getting Eren worked up, but after the high passed, panic had set in. Why on earth did he do that? He already had been thinking about the dumbass all day, after their day together. He had taken a shower to try and wash off any thoughts of him and just _relax._ It had worked, right up until he walked in. He swore the kid was _trying_ to make sure he was on his mind 24/7. He berated himself for thinking about him so frequently and he couldn’t place the warm feeling that pooled inside of him every time he hung out with him recently. It was bothering him. He kept thinking about it as he got to the gym and wrapped his hands so that he could use the punching bag for a bit.

 

He pretended that the bag was his brain and punched it until his hands were numb, his lungs burned and sweat dripped from his forehead. He was grateful that his mind went blank after a while, focusing on the motions instead of everything else. He was feeling better when he went to get water and towel off his sweat. He walked over to the bench press to do a couple of sets. He added the weights and sat down when he noticed something out of the corner of his eye. Lo and behold, it was Eren, running the track. He had his phone in his hand, earbuds in looking very concentrated. But that wasn’t what caused Jean’s mind to stop working, it was what he was _wearing._ He had on a loose fitting tank that exposed most of his sides, and running leggings on. Jean was frozen as he watched Eren run, until he turned the bend where he’d be able to see Jean. He dropped onto his back and slid under the bar, taking deep breaths trying to calm himself down. He gripped the bar and started doing his reps, focusing on the weight of the bar and the burn in his arms, rather than Eren. However, he looked to his side when he noticed movement, and he saw Eren wiping his face off with the hem of his shirt, exposing tanned abs that were also shining with sweat. Eren peeled the shirt off, stretched his shoulders causing the muscles in his back ripple, and then he went to stretch out his legs and that’s when Jean dropped the bar back in its holder, clanging loudly. Luckily the gym was practically empty besides those two because of the late hour, however the sound wasn’t lost on Eren. He turned around, and locked eyes with Jean.

 

“Oh my gosh are you okay?” Eren rushed over and asked, a worried expression on his face.

 

Jean looked away grumbling and flustered, “Yeah, ‘mfine.”

 

“What happened?” Eren asked cocking his head to the side. His hair falling into his eyes which were a little _too_ innocent looking.

 

“I just lost grip on the bar that’s all. Now leave me alone.” Jean was looking everywhere but Eren who was currently just leggings. That’s fine. Really.

 

Eren brought a hand to his chin and looked off, making the motion of thinking and hummed. He snapped as if he had come to some sort of relevation, “You must have the wrong posture!”

 

“What?” Jean asked, finally looking at Eren.

 

That’s when Eren swung a leg over the bench and plopped himself down right on Jean’s hips.

 

“Eren?! What are you-“ Jean was frantic, here Eren was, shirtless, and in leggings, sweaty and now straddling him.

 

“I’m going to fix your form!” Eren smiled innocently. _Innocent my ass._

“You have to make sure that your back is flat against the bench.” Eren said lowly, pressing his hands on Jean’s hips and firmly dragging his palms up his chest, pushing him against the bench. Jean was pretty sure he wasn’t breathing, or thinking straight. All he knew was Eren on his hips and his hands dragging up his chest languidly. When he got to shoulders, Eren was practically laying on top of Jean.

 

“Now, your arms have to be evenly spaced with your shoulders.” He said, a little too close to Jean for comfort. He grabbed Jean’s arms and ran his hands over his biceps, all the way up his forearms until he had placed them back on the bar. He then placed his hands over his, and repositioned them to be square with his shoulders, dragging his hands back down his arms to lean on the bench, hovering over Jean.

 

Jean had lost all train of coherent thoughts, his face felt like it was on fire, his heart was stammering in his chest, and he was pretty sure he _still_ wasn’t breathing. Eren leaned in and brought his lips to Jean’s ear, “Look, now you’re perfect, though you were pretty close before.”

 

Eren practically purred into his ear, causing shockwaves to run down Jean’s spine and send everything into hyperdrive.

 

“Payback’s a bitch isn’t it?” Eren said lowly, licking the outer shell of Jean’s ear and biting his earlobe causing Jean to let out a squeak, his body slightly jolting.

 

Eren sat back up with a shit-eating grin on his face and smugness in his eyes. Jean was pretty sure that he put extra pressure on his hips when he stood up, because his breath caught in his throat, a different noise threatening to escape from his lips.

 

“Enjoy your workout.” Eren winked and walked away. Yeah, he was definitely swinging his hips more than usual. Not that Jean minded. Well, he did mind, a lot, but apparently his body didn’t. Jean watched Eren walk away, completely dumbfounded and not functioning properly. When he heard the door to the gym close, indicating Eren had left, he shot up, and practically ran to the bathroom. He splashed cold water on his face, took a few deep breaths and stared at himself in the mirror. His eyes were blown and his cheeks were red, his heart was still racing and his breathing was still erratic. Yeah, he was completely and utterly _fucked._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've had this chapter in my head for soooooo long because yeah those two are cheeseballs but c'mon you KNOW they are absolute teases, and what better to solidify being in love with someone than them giving you an inappropriate boner amirite??? So take this, because next chapter SHIT GOES DOWN.


	7. Chapter Seven

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a LONG chapter. However, it's the climax of the story so I guess it makes sense? ENJOY IT THOUGH THIS ONE IS FOR YOU GUYS (i mean all of them are but you'll understand)

Jean would be lying if he had said he wasn’t currently panicking. He fell asleep with Eren on his mind, dreamt very _very_ inappropriate dreams about him, and woke up with an uncomfortable feeling in his lower regions that he absolutely _refused_ to take care of, because that would be admitting defeat. He was sitting on his bed with his head in his hands trying to compute the situation. Yeah, sure, he started it, but Eren didn’t stop him, and not to mention he looked very flustered. _And_ he continued it, claiming it was payback. He couldn’t remember there being any embarrassment or hesitation in his eyes, though he couldn’t really focus on anything at that moment…

 

Jean groaned and flopped back on his bed pressing the heel of his hands into his eyes until he was seeing spots. What was he supposed to do? His body reacted to Eren in each and every way one would expect it to. His heart raced when he smiled and laughed. It skipped a beat when he calls him by his name or when he touches him. He’s obviously physically attracted to him as well. He enjoyed Eren’s company and craved it more and more each passing day. It was Friday afternoon, approximately two weeks since their little game started. He couldn’t possibly feel this way after just two weeks. It had to be the placebo affect. Yeah, Eren was just getting inside his head is all, making him _think_ that he was –

 

“No.” Jean said aloud. He wasn’t even going to let himself think the phrase, because thinking it makes it true. And it isn’t. It’s a mind trick. That’s all it is. Though, they had known each other for five years now, so it’s not like Eren is a stranger. The way he’s treating him is new and all. Yeah, that’s it. His brain isn’t used to Eren acting this way, all charming and shit. There wasn’t anything wrong with him. Like he said, placebo affect. Eren’s just toying with him and when he gets bored he’s gonna go back to calling him names and fighting him and grimacing whenever he was in the room. The thought made Jean’s heart sink. He was so conflicted, he wanted it to be true, more than anything, just so that he could move on. But his heart wanted it to be false, he wanted this side of Eren to stay with him forever.

 

“Fucking hell…” Jean sighed. The way his emotions were fighting with each other was ridiculous. A knock on the door startled him and he sat up.

 

“Yeah?” He called out.

 

The door opened and he saw Armin poke his head in.

 

“Hey, Armin, what’s up?” Jean smiled at Armin. He liked Armin, he was down to earth and friendly. He’s also Jean’s drive to do well in class because he’s only slightly behind Armin in academics. He keeps telling himself he’ll surpass him one day, even though everyone knows that isn’t true, but it doesn’t hurt to try.

 

“Everyone’s hanging out in my room, Sasha and Connie said they had a surprise for everyone, if you wanna join?” Armin smiled politely at him.

 

_Shit, Eren’s gonna be there, how do I act around him? What do I say?_

 

It was almost as if Armin could read his thoughts because he giggled at Jean and said, “Eren made the same face when Marco said to come get you, you guys are gonna have to face each other some day.”

 

Jean flushed, “You don’t get it.”

 

Armin snorted, “Oh trust me, I do. I didn’t really want to know, but I do. And I know more than just that Jean, and I can say you don’t need to be worried about anything.” Armin winked and pulled his head out, shouting, “You’re welcome at any time!”

 

Jean started panicking again. What does he mean he knows more than that? What does he mean that I don’t need to be worried? About what? He figured Eren had told Armin because, well, regardless of how much they both hated to admit it, they were rather alike and he couldn’t hold it in and told Marco last night.

 

He sighed, dropped his head, and pushed himself off the bed, grabbing his phone and heading to Armin and Eren’s room. He opened the door and everyone greeted him happily, Eren looking away and blushing profusely. He looked around the room. _Great guys, really great, just make sure the only place left for me to sit is next to Eren._

He heard Marco and Armin snicker from where they were sitting and everything clicked into place and Jean sent them a look that could’ve set the building on fire. He sat down next to Eren on the bed and his heart kicked into seventh gear. He inwardly sighed, at his dilemma. God, he was so screwed.  

~

Eren was a bit annoyed that everyone was in his room. He had a lot on his mind and it wasn’t like he could brood in peace. Well, almost everyone was in there. Sasha and Connie ran away saying they had some sort of surprise and that they’d be back, the other one not there in their group was the one giving Eren troubles.

 

Yesterday completely fucked with his head. Jean started it, and knowing the competitive side in him, Eren finished it. Though, he knew that it wasn’t just his desire to win that drove him, but just pure _desire._ The desire to make Jean feel the way he did, and the desire to feel Jean like that again. It was dangerous, he knew that. At the time it seemed like a good idea. He hadn’t planned on Jean showing up at the gym, the opportunity arose and he took it. But it wasn’t like he didn’t have other plans, he did. That was the problem. Even if Jean hadn’t shown up he was still going to do something. Why though? Why did he feel the need to do so?

 

_You know why,_ his brain shot back at him.

 

He groaned inwardly. He did know why. He wasn’t going to admit it. He would admit it when he died. But yes, he knew the reasoning. He knew why his heart rate sped up whenever Jean did something out of character. He couldn’t stop thinking about Jean letting him in on his secret passion, or the way he looked at him with awe when he played for him. He couldn’t stop the admiration that creeped up inside of him when he thought about how athletic or smart he was. It was all involuntary. And it happened all the time. Suddenly it seemed like Jean was the only thing he could think about. It pissed him off. Because he knew it was all a game to him. It hurt, knowing that, but at the same time there was that flame inside of him saying that the way he looks at him isn’t fake. His brain is tricking him into thinking that he seen genuine interest in Jean’s eyes.

 

Eren’s mood turned sour when he thought that Jean has probably practiced those looks so many times to try and get anyone. And if that’s the case then it’s fucking working, which pisses him off even more.

 

He was pulled out of his thoughts when Armin abruptly stood up and announced he was going to get Jean. Eren blanched at Armin and Armin sent him a reassuring smile.

 

Eren started panicking. He hadn’t seen Jean since yesterday when everything happened. And he hadn’t stopped thinking about him since then either. He woke up and growled at his lower half when he was met with a very unwelcomed sight in the morning. He rolled over and stared at Armin and luckily that worked, because he calmed down. Armin was like a brother to him, and he wasn’t into that type of shit.

 

He didn’t pay any mind to Marco when he flopped down on Armin’s bed spread out, head towards his desk. He was too busy trying to calm his rapidly beating heart. He heard the door open and his breath caught in his throat and his head snapped up, but he deflated when he saw it was only Armin. Armin sat down in the desk chair and whispered something to Marco. Eren was trying to stop the disappointment in his chest when Armin came back alone, but suddenly he heard the door open, and this time he thought his heart jumping to life so quickly was going to send him into cardiac arrest. Jean was standing in the door way, greeting everyone and looking around the room. His eyes landed on Eren and Eren immediately looked away, face burning red.

 

He then felt a weight on his bed and looked over to see Jean sitting next to him. He didn’t know whether to be happy that Jean had decided to sit with him, or freak out because Jean had decided to sit next to him. He groaned to himself, god he was so screwed.

 

~

 

After some small talk, Eren and Jean relaxed and became more comfortable with each other’s presences. They had gravitated closer to each other and were talking animatedly. Armina dn Marco had noted that there was never a time where they weren’t touching. They shared a knowing look with each other and elected to ignore the black hole that was Mikasa as she glared at the two of them. She still didn’t condone this whole thing, worrying about Eren getting hurt, so in turn she always kept a close watch on Jean. She made sure to do it secretively because Eren didn’t like when she went all big sister on him to protect him.

 

Eventually, Connie came in with Sasha, a backpack slung over his shoulder, both grinning mischeviously.

 

Eren looked at them, a bit concerned, “Hey guys, um, what’s up with the expressions?”

 

Connie put down the bag and the contents clinked together. Everyone suddenly knew what was in the bag. Connie opened it revealing four bottles of various types of alcohol.

 

“Where’d you get all of that?” Jean asked incredulously.

 

“Wait, won’t we get in trouble?” Armin asked, suddenly worried, glancing at the doorway.

 

“ _That_ was the big surprise?” Marco asked, unimpressed since he wasn’t much of a drinker.

 

Mikasa sighed, she didn’t drink either but didn’t have the energy to make a fuss over it.

 

Connie waved off Armin’s comment, “Levi doesn’t care as long as we don’t make a mess and aren’t too loud.” He looked over at Jean grinning, “And I have connections.”

 

Sasha spoke up, “I found a party we can go to, and we thought it’d be fun to pregame!”

 

“All of that is for pregaming?” Marco asked warily.

 

Connie shrugged, “I mean no, but if we find out the party’s ass we can come back and finish it off.”

 

Eren grinned, “I’m game, I bet I can out drink you horse-face.”

 

Jean scoffed, “Please, I know how to hold my alcohol.” He said proudly grinning back at Eren.

 

After about five or six shots, both boys were feeling it, but they weren’t drunk, surprisingly. Sasha still seemed exactly the same, no one knew if it was because she’s a heavyweight or if it was because she’s just as ridiculous sober as well. Mikasa passed as did Marco. Armin was nursing a mixed drink that Eren had persuaded him into having. His cheeks were already flushed, so it was probably a good thing he decided that was all he was going to have. Connie was already passed out on the floor.

 

Sasha announced that it was time to go to the party, Marco electing to stay behind and take care of Connie. Armin and Mikasa were going to make sure Jean and Eren didn’t do anything stupid or get lost or get in a fight or something. Armin thinking the former, Mikasa thinking the latter.

 

When they arrived to the party, it was in full swing, people crowding together, around a ping pong table, and on couches. Eren and Jean made a bee line for the bar with Sasha, who was drunk enough to convince Armin to have one more.

 

Later, Jean was lost in the sea of dancers; Eren, Mikasa, Sasha and Armin staying near a wall. Sasha and Armin were dancing happily together, trying to get Mikasa to dance with them, who vehemently refused. She was giving off murderous vibes because guys started trying to hit on her, and girls on Eren. Eren had tried to convince her to lighten up a bit and enjoy it. He didn’t like the creepy guys hitting on her, but he also didn’t want her to have a bad time. He was fully drunk at this point though, so Mikasa refused to listen to anything he said.

 

Sasha came over and draped herself on Eren which caused him to giggle. He felt her mouth by his ear, which tickled, and in slurred words she said, “Hey Eren, Jean’s been watching you this whole time.”

 

Eren tensed, eyes darting to the dancefloor, making eye contact with Jean. He gulped and took another drink of the cup in his hand, deciding he wasn’t drunk enough for this. Even though he was very drunk.

 

“Go dance with him.” Sasha said again.

 

Eren started blushing, thanking the heavens that he could blame the alcohol, “What, no.” He averted his gaze to the floor, he wasn’t going to do that. He knew he didn’t have the self-control right now to go over there.

 

He felt Sasha get up and start giggling, “Well, it looks like you don’t have a choice.”

 

Before Eren could reply, he felt someone taller lean against the wall next to him. He looked up, and locked eyes with Jean who was a lot closer than he expected him to be. He couldn’t deny that he looked good. Tight black jeans, a red and black plaid shirt with his hair styled nicely instead of just messy like usual. Eren’s breath caught in his throat and he took another drink to still the nerves.

 

“Why are you acting so boring over here?” Jean asked, a sultry smile on his lips.

 

Eren shrugged, “I’m making sure no creeps come onto Mikasa.” Half true.

 

He hadn’t realized that Mikasa wasn’t by his side anymore, his attention fully on Jean.

 

Jean looked next to him, “Looks like she’s in good hands with Sasha and Armin.”

 

Eren looked over to where she was before, noticing she was dragged over to the beer pong table. Sasha must’ve tapped into her competitive side, and seeing as how the cups were filled with water and you didn’t drink them, she wouldn’t be forced to drink. How she had convinced her to leave Eren’s side was a different story. However, when he saw Armin give Eren a thumbs up, he wasn’t so confused anymore. He was going to _kill_ him.

 

“Huh.” Eren said, feigning surprise.

 

“Besides, Mikasa isn’t the one everyone’s been staring at.” Jean smirked, eyes raking over Eren’s body.

 

Eren once again thanked the alcohol for already flushing his cheeks.

  
“Dance with me.” Jean said.

 

“I’m good.” Eren said looking away. This is getting bad, quickly. His already almost non-existent resolve was crumbling.

 

“What?” Jean leaned down, mouth brushing his ear, “You scared, seeing as you’ve seen me dance?”

 

A fire lit up inside of Eren, his pride not letting Jean get away with that comment. Resolve destroyed. He shoved himself off the wall, downed the rest of his drink, which was mostly alcohol, burning his already heated insides, grabbed Jean’s hand and lead him into the dancefloor.

 

_Into You_ by Ariana Grande had started playing, a deep beat thrumming inside of Eren. He was drunk enough to abandon any inhibition and embarrassment, focusing purely on the challenge at hand. Jean thought he was hot shit, which he was, but not the point right now. He started swaying his hips lightly to the quietly sung opening lyrics. Jean cocking and eyebrow, as if he was challenging Eren, pressing him forward.

 

The chorus started out slowly, so Eren reached out, lightly tracing Jean’s chest with his hands, which he has known was very fit, but feeling it for himself was a different story. He remembered how good it felt at the gym, and how hard he had to try to keep a straight face. It sparked more desire to continue, his hands trailing up to his neck and hair.

 

He felt the beat kick in with her singing, “so baby come light me up, and maybe I’ll let you on it.” And at that moment, Eren spun around, hands still in Jean’s hair, back flushed against his chest, moving his hips stronger than before. He heard Jean’s breath hitch in his ear which caused him to smirk.

 

“I didn’t know you could move like this. I thought you said you couldn’t dance.” Jean said in his ear, lips touching the shell of his ear causing a shiver to run down Eren’s spine. Jean hadn’t touched him yet, which he was confused on and a little aggravated at.

 

 Eren chuckled, “I never said I couldn’t dance, I just don’t dance like you do.”

 

“Well, I’m certainly not complaining.” Jean replied.

 

He was tired of talking and just wanted Jean to touch him, and heard and opportunity coming. “Hey, Jean.” Eren said, leaning his head back to look at Jean.

 

“Hmm?” He asked.

 

In time with the music Eren said, “A little less conversation and a little more touch my body.”

 

That seemed like all Jean needed to abandon any boundaries because Jean practically growled in his ear, as he gripped Eren’s hip with one hand the other splayed out on his collar bones, pulling his body as close to his own as possible. They stayed like that for a while, before Eren spun around, facing Jean again chests’ pressed against each other, moving in rhythm. They were both breathing heavily, hands wandering over each other’s bodies. Eren could feel the desire building inside of him.

 

Eren was inwardly thinking about how much the song was reflecting how he was feeling, the alcohol making Jean very _very_ attractive to him, and wanting him in ways he never expected to. He didn’t even shy away from the feeling, any nervousness pushed deep down inside of him, desire replacing it.

 

Jean must’ve been feeling the same because he laced his fingers in Eren’s hair, pulling him impossibly closer. Eren decided it’d be fun to toy with him, so he let his hands drag down Jean’s sides, as he swayed his hips, and lowered himself down until he was level with Jean’s hips, keeping eye contact the whole time. He smirked at the look in Jean’s eyes, and turned around standing back up with his back dragging up Jean’s chest, hips grinding languidly on Jean’s. He felt Jean’s hand lace back into his hair the other on his hip, pulling them close to his own. He felt Jean’s breath on his neck, and then suddenly, a tongue flicked out, lightly tracing the shell of his ear.

 

Eren’s breath caught in his throat, hands flying up to grab at Jean’s head. He heard Jean chuckle darkly at the response, attaching his lips to Eren’s neck, causing a string of expletives to leave Eren’s lips. Eren’s body went into overdrive when he felt Jean’s teeth graze a spot on his neck that caused his knees to wobble. He spun around, breathing heavily, staring up at Jean. There was a moment of hesitation in both boys before they both dove head first into the deep end. Their lips met in a heated kiss, Eren feeling like everything he’s kept pent up inside exploding inside of him.

 

Eren’s arms around Jean’s neck, one of Jean’s hands on his lower back, the other tangled in Eren’s hair. They pulled away breathing heavily, before Jean grabbed his hand, dragging him off the dancefloor. Eren was confused and upset that he wasn’t kissing him anymore, but allowed himself to be dragged away.

 

They passed the other three, Eren completely dazed and breathless, Jean telling Sasha they were leaving, which resulted in Sasha cheering, Mikasa glaring, and Armin refusing to make eye contact, for reasons Eren didn’t know, and didn’t care to know, because he finally caught Jean’s intent and he was eager to leave.

 

They got back to the dorms, and before the door to Eren’s room was even closed, Jean practically threw Eren against the door, leaning down and kissing him roughly. Eren greedily forced Jean’s mouth open, licking into it. They panted and touched and explored for what felt like forever. After a while, Eren pushed Jean off of him, walking him to his bed, and pushing Jean onto it. Jean smiled smugly as Eren settled on top of him, thighs enclosing Jean’s hips. Eren smirked down at Jean, deciding to see if Jean was going to chase for it. He made no move to kiss him again, and Jean angrily sighed, grabbing Eren by the back of the head and forcing him down. They met in another heated kiss, both letting out guttural groans, as their bodies moved against each other.

 

They continued like that for most of the night. They didn’t go any further than that, not even bothering taking of any clothing. It wasn’t like they didn’t want to, it was that even though they had crossed this line, they both didn’t want to make a mistake, fear holding them back. After a while, the after affects of the alcohol hit them; exhausted they fell asleep in Eren’s bed, intertwined and very happy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SHIT THIS WAS LONG. I've been waiting so long to publish this. I've had this chapter written for like a month. I was driving to class and Into You came on and i was like SHIT THIS WOULD MAKE A GREAT CHAPTER and I wrote it immediately after class. Anyway, I hope y'all like it! Sorry they didn't ACTUALLY do it but like you'll see don't worry ;) BUT YEAH HERE IT IS, HAVE A SCHEMING MARCO AND ARMIN BECAUSE THEY KNOW EVERYTHING AND CONFUSED EREN AND JEAN :D


	8. Chapter Eight

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> IM SO SORRY IM AN AWFUL PERSON IM SORRY THIS TOOK SO LONG. COLLEGE IS HARD AND I HAD A LOT OF WORK AND IM JUST A SAD EXCUSE FOR A HUMAN BEING. TAKE IT IM SORRY.

The next morning Eren could feel the headache before he even opened his eyes. He decided to try and ignore it, cuddling into the warmth next to him.

 

He was dozing off when suddenly the sluggishly moving gears in his head clicked.

 

 _Wait a minute,_ Eren thought. Why was there a warmth next to him?

 

His eyes shot open and his gaze was met with a torso clad in red and black. His head was resting on his chest, Jean’s head resting on the pillow, but he could feel his steading breathing in his hair.

 

 _Fuck, fuck, fuck._ He registered that he was fully clothed and a bit of relief washed over him, still panicking because he and Jean were in the _same fucking bed. Cuddling_ no less.

He was suddenly hit with everything that happened that night, and he was absolutely mortified.

 

Every noise he made, every action replayed in his head. As did Jean’s, which made Eren uncomfortable and had him mentally wiping his brain to try and halt the direction his train of thought was going. That was _not_ going to happen right now. Especially not while he was completely draped over Jean.

 

He was still reeling over everything. What had he done? He played right into Jean’s hand, and Eren had no qualms about anything he did last night. He _wanted_ to do everything. He was panicking so much that his head started throbbing. He was a bit grateful for the headache and decided to focus on that pain instead of the situation he was in. After the panic settled, exhaustion took over and he decided to go back to sleep, electing to deal with this when he woke up again. The fact that he was intertwined with Jean and that he was oh so comfortable, and safe feeling in his strong arms weren’t really helping him fall asleep, but eventually his gaze blurred and wavered, and faded to darkness yet again.

 

~

 

Jean could feel his consciousness stirring. He had a very mild headache, but that was to be expected from the amount of alcohol he drank last night. He went to stretch his muscles, only to realize that one arm was wrapped around a body, that was sleeping soundly on his chest.

 

 _What the fuck,_ Jean thought, eyes flying open. The first thing he realized was that he wasn’t in his room, his brain sluggishly realizing that he was looking at Armin’s belongings.

 

 _So that means…_ Jean started to panic as he slowly looked down and saw Eren snuggled into his chest.

 

His breathing kicked into high gear, as he scavenged his brain trying to remember what happened last night.

 

Shit, he pushed Eren into dancing with him, and in the end he couldn’t control himself. He felt guilty for taking advantage of Eren’s competitive spirit and drunkenness and now they were here. He tried to calm his heart, thinking that Eren wouldn’t have brought him here if he hadn’t felt _something._ However, Jean’s self-doubt was convincing him otherwise.

 

This was not happening, Jean kept repeating in his mind. No, there was no way. There was no way he was _legitimately_ attracted to this idiot. He dumbed it down to the alcohol and primal desires.

 

His arms subconsciously pulled Eren closer to his chest as he panicked. He heard a sigh and his gaze shot down to the still sleeping form. There was a small smile on Eren’s face that was clawing at Jean’s heart.

 

He couldn’t do this. He couldn’t do this. _He couldn’t do this._ Jean’s breathing kicked into overdrive and he wanted to literally rip his heart out of his chest to stop it. He didn’t know what to do. He really didn’t. He had dug himself into a hole that he couldn’t get out of. He thought back to when this whole thing started. He sort of remembered instigating that too. Why? Why did he do that? Why did he think this would ever be a good idea?

 

Now he’s in deep and has no clue what to do.

 

Alright. First things first, he has to get out of here. He moved slowly inching himself out from under Eren. He didn’t want to wake him to have to deal with this. He was praying he would get out without him noticing and Eren would just forget everything. Then he wouldn’t have to deal with it. His heart hurt at the idea of it, he didn’t want to forget it. And he didn’t want to not want to forget it either. These conflicting feelings were making the room spin and he just needed to get away from Eren. He finally got out of the bed, Eren curling into a ball and sighing again. This time, he wasn’t smiling anymore and his brow was furrowed a bit, but he seemed to still be sleeping.

 

Jean sighed in relief and walked to the door. He took one last look at Eren, his heart beating heavily in his chest, and turned around, closing the door behind him. Eren was facing the wall, so Jean assumed he didn’t wake up.

 

~

 

Eren laid in bed for what felt like an eternity. He didn’t want to move, he didn’t want to see anyone, he just wanted to lay there and pretend nothing ever happened. He didn’t move when Armin had come back in the room. He didn’t move when Armin left again. He didn’t even know what time it was.

 

All he knew was that Jean left this morning. He didn’t know whether that was good or bad, or what he even meant by that. Was Eren just some hook up that he had to do the walk of shame for? Was he embarrassed to be seen in the same bed as him? Why was this bothering him so much? He should be glad that Jean left and he wouldn’t have to deal with any of this. Well, he’d have to deal with it _eventually_ but he did get to skip out of the awkward conversation that would have happened if he were still there. So why was he in so much pain?

 

It wasn’t physical pain, he assumed he’d been laying in bed for a while, because his headache had subsided. No, it wasn’t physical, it was all emotional. It was happening inside of him. This raging war of what he should and shouldn’t be feeling. The line was so blurry now. What did he mean to Jean? But how could he expect Jean to answer that question when he didn’t know what Jean meant to him? He would tell you until he’s blue in the face that he hated that horse face. But was that the truth? When it was just the two of them, he had an amazing time. He would feel warm and safe with Jean. He was truly happy when he spent time with him. It was like the universe was comprised of just them and their feelings. It was fun and it felt genuine. But there was no way this was genuine. It was all a game.

 

Eren remembered back to when this started. Jean was the reason he said what he did. But he still said it. He said that he could get Jean to fall in love with him. And that’s what he was trying to do, initially that is. He specifically brought Jean to that café with the piano to show off his hidden talent. That’s how he managed to woo his first girlfriend, so he figured it would work on him. But what he hadn’t expected was the pure awe in Jean’s eyes. The way they lit up when he played for him, and how happy Jean’s praise made him. It was different.

 

It seemed as if everything he did with Jean was different. He made Eren softer, and quieter. Granted, they were both very loud and obnoxious boys, so it’s not like they were polar opposites or anything. He just toned down Eren’s need to be the greatest and be the one with all the attention in the room. Which is a funny thought, seeing as Jean used to be the sole reason he was like that. He would do everything to one-up Jean and prove that he was the best.

 

That was when he realized that his whole world already revolved around Jean. His wants and his desires, his drive to be the best he could be, was all because or for Jean. He was a dynamic person because of him. The thought frightened him to the core.

 

He sat up abruptly, causing the room to spin and he pressed his palms in his eyes, spots coming across his vision. He needed to wash his face. Splash cold water and wake up. He needed to stop mulling all of this over and just move on.

 

He stood up, stretched, and walked out of his room. He went to the bathroom, brushed his teeth and elected to just take a cold shower to try and clear his muddled mind. He felt refreshed, but not any better. He was walking back to his room when he heard laughter from Jean’s room and saw the door propped open. Everyone from their group was in there. He wanted to avoid them, but Connie caught him before he could run away.

 

“Yo, Eren! Come on, we were just about to tell stories about last night!” He was going to ignore him, but decided this was going to have to happen at some point and walked in.  

 

“Man, I’m so pissed I passed out before the party even happened!” Connie groaned from his spot on the floor.

 

“I took care of you, so it’s fine.” Marco said sweetly from his bed.

 

“Which sucks because you couldn’t even go and enjoy it!” Connie dropped his head and Sasha patted it giggling.

 

Eren saw a spot next to Jean on his bed, and refused to make eye contact with him. He scanned the room, Armin sitting on the bed next to Marco, Mikasa on the desk chair next to it. Sasha on the desk chair next to Connie. He wouldn’t sit next to Jean and just plopped down on the floor next to Mikasa. He pretended he didn’t notice the looks everyone gave him when he didn’t sit next to Jean.

 

“I don’t party, it’s fine. You were sleeping anyway.” Marco smiled at him.

 

“What about you, Jean? Anything _interesting_ happen?” Sasha said suggestively, waggling her eyebrows.

 

Eren flushed and looked anywhere but Jean’s direction, his heart racing. How was he going to reply?

 

“I wouldn’t be able to tell ya if I did! It’s not like I remember anything. _God_ I was so trashed. If anything did happen it wasn’t by my good consciousness.” Jean said nonchalantly.

 

Eren felt like his heart had shattered. He froze at the comment. He had to have known something. He left this morning. Was the last comment a dig at him? No, he didn’t know he was awake… but still, he couldn’t stop this pain in his chest.

 

He stood up abruptly, causing everyone’s attention to shift to him.

 

His face burned, his eyes stung, and his heart was beating rapidly in his chest, “I – uh, just realized I have some work that I have to get done. Sorry guys.” And before anyone could protest he turned and left the room, ignoring the worried and upset look Armin shared with Marco.

 

When he finally got out of the room and into his own, he dropped on the bed clutching his chest, hot tears falling down his face. So he really didn’t care…

 

~

Jean steeled himself and stared at the door. Armin was studying with Marco in the lounge, and he hadn’t seen Eren all day. It was nearing midnight, and his door was open, the exit to the dorm and the bathrooms were on his side so it would be impossible for Eren to go there without Jean noticing. He wanted to talk to him. The guilt of leaving this morning becoming too much to bear. When he wasn’t given an excuse to call out to Eren, or catch his eye, he decided to just man up and go to his room. He took a deep breath and lifted his hand, knocking on his door rapidly.

 

When there was no response he called out, “Eren, it’s me. I know you’re in there. I want to talk to you.”

 

He waited again. He was about to leave when he hear the door unlock, but wasn’t opened. He turned the handle and looked in, Eren sitting with his back to the door on his bed.

 

“What is it? I’m not feeling well so make it quick.” Eren’s voice was raspy.

 

Was he crying? No, it couldn’t have been that. He drank a lot so he was probably just hungover and throwing up.

 

“Um, well…” He didn’t know how to put this. Eren wasn’t awake when he left this morning, but he felt super guilty so he wanted to come clean.

 

“If you’re going to talk about how you left this morning, don’t worry. I don’t care.” Eren said.

 

So he was awake? Shit…

 

Jean nervously laughed, “Haha yeah, wild things happen when you’re drunk right?”

 

There was a pause, “Do you really not remember?” Eren’s voice was so small he was wondering if he even really did say it.

 

He panicked. What was he supposed to say? Eren’s question rang through his ears, and the tone of his voice. Fuck it.

 

“Yes. I do remember. I just didn’t want to deal with them is all.” Jean said half truthfully. The other half being he was planning on forgetting this ever happened and just not have this conversation at all.

 

“I do too.” Eren said quietly.

 

Jean froze. He didn’t know what he was expecting, but he wasn’t expecting Eren to be so honest. He still refused to look at him.

 

“So –“ Jean started and Eren cut him off.

 

“We can just pretend it never happened. Continue on and let everyone think we don’t remember that night even if we do, so we don’t have to deal with them.” He said.

 

Jean’s heart felt like it had gotten shot. Pretend it never happened? How was he supposed to do that? Did Eren really not care about what happened so much that he’d just abandon it so easily? He must not, if he has the ability to just forget about it.

 

Jean forced out an emotionless laugh, “Ha, yeah. It was just a mistake.”

 

He saw Eren stiffen at the comment. Jean felt like his whole being was crumbling and he just had to get out of there, “It’s cool I get it. Man, I’m tired, so, glad we had this talk. I’m gonna head to bed. See ya.”

 

He turned and left before Eren could say another word, closing the door softly behind him. He walked quickly to his room, closed the door and laid on his bed facing the wall, hugging a pillow. He felt lonely without Eren’s heat. He’d already gotten accustomed to it. He was empty, the only thought in his head was Eren saying, _we can just pretend it didn’t happen._ Tears rolled down his cheeks, because he finally found out that Eren didn’t really care.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I had originally had this tacked on to the end of the last chapter. So, I didn't really know where this was going, but hey angst works too right! So have some angst! And have these dumbasses finally figured out they're in love???? *GASP* WHO KNOWS? BUT AGAIN IM SO SORRY THIS TOOK SO LONG AND I'LL TRY TO HAVE THE NEXT ONE UP SOONER THAN THIS ONE PLEASE DONT HATE ME.


	9. Chapter Nine

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so sorry

Eren was having a bad day. A very bad day. He didn’t know what it was, or what caused it, but he was in an absolutely _foul_ mood. Everything and anything that anyone said made him angry. His teachers were a bit too boring, the sun a bit too hot, the day a bit too long. To make matters worse, he had practice this evening. He was a bit grateful though, because he would make sure to use the batting machines a bit more today so at least he had something to hit. His mind decided to tack on that he’d be able to see Jean, which further increased his bad mood.

 

Why the fuck did his body think it was funny to want to be around him? It was some sick joke his mind was playing on him and he wasn’t putting up with any of it. Jean didn’t care about him, he was just another game. The fact that he had gotten attached to him so quickly pissed him off immensely. They hadn’t even said two words to each other since then, and it’s now been about half a week. He just couldn’t wait for the day to end, down a couple of ibuprofen, and blast his music in his ears until he passed out.

 

~

 

When he got to the field, he dropped his duffle bag to the ground, his bat clanging against the fence obnoxiously. There wasn’t anyone there yet, seeing as he was there about half an hour early, not wanting to hang around people and attempt to socialize. He decided to go for a run, hoping that would clear out some of the negative energies in him. He put in his earbuds, blasting his workout playlist and took off running.

 

After about twenty minutes, the team had arrived and Eren jogged over, his bad mood ebbed away almost as if the anger was coming out in his sweat. He was feeling hopeful that possibly by the end of this, he’d be in a better mood.

 

Oh how wrong he was. The first thing he noticed, much to his chagrin, was Jean. Who was leaning up against the fence, talking to some guy he’d never seen before. The boy was tall, very attractive, and smiling down at Jean. He noticed Jean’s stance and the look on his face, and Eren recognized it very well. It was the face he made when he was trying to get in with someone. He could practically hear the tone of voice he used, lower than normal dripping with confidence. His heart rate sped up as he imagined it, remembering the times that Jean had used this very tactic on him. His body practically caught on fire with the amount of anger that suddenly boiled up in him when he saw Jean laugh a little too loud and put his hand on the boy’s bicep.

 

He saw Jean push himself off the fence, saying bye to whoever he was talking to, and walked over to the team.

 

Jean saw Eren, and looked away, face flushing and what looked to be sadness crossing his features. He rubbed the back of his neck and looked up at Eren again, offering a shy smile at him.

 

His heart fluttered a bit, at the almost apologetic smile. His anger died down a bit, but lit up just as quickly when Connie came bounding over exclaiming, “I saw that! Using the Kirstein moves on that guy huh?” He said suggestively.

 

Jean flushed and looked over at Eren. Was that guilt Eren saw in his eyes?

 

When Jean turned back to Connie, his expression was completely different. The guilt must’ve been a trick of Eren’s eyes. _He doesn’t care about you,_ he sternly reminded himself.

 

Jean waved him off, “That? Please, that was nothing. I hadn’t turned on my _real_ charm yet. Right Eren?” He smirked at him. When he made eye contact, however, his smirk faltered, what looked to be panic flashed across his face.

 

This just made Eren angrier, “You’re saying that like I’d know.” Why the fuck is he toying with him right now?

 

This spurred an angry response in Jean, “Oh, and you don’t?”

 

“No, I don’t. However, I do know is that it doesn’t take much to get you to start flirting with the first fuckable thing you see apparently.”

 

Jean was taken aback at his comment, “Come again?”

 

Eren snorted, “You heard me loud and clear horse-shit. You’ll spread those legs for anyone.” Eren didn’t know why he was saying this, but all he knew is that he was pissed off, and there was no stopping him. Somewhere inside him, he knew that was a low blow, after learning that Jean _did_ remember their little rendezvous. It hurt him to say it, but he figured it was just compensation for the pain he was feeling.

 

He saw hurt and anger flash through Jean’s eyes, “Who the fuck do you think you are?” Jean said moving closer. A bit of déjà vu ignited in Eren, being reminded of how they used to act before they became – well what Eren thought – closer.

 

“Someone with first hand experience, _right Jean?”_ Eren spat back in the same tone of voice that Jean had just used on him.

 

Jean lunged at Eren, ready to beat the absolute shit out of him, only to be stopped by Reiner throwing his arms around Jean’s shoulders. Bertholt grabbed Eren’s arm. Eren hadn’t been planning on going after Jean, just ready to block him, but Bertholt was just taking precaution.

 

“Calm down. Both of you.” Bertholdt said sternly.

 

“What the fuck is going on over here?” The group heard from behind them. Levi approached them, an unamused expression on his face and his arms crossed over his chest.

 

Connie blanched, Eren and Jean were glaring at each other, Reiner still holding onto him and Bertholdt holding Eren, answering for everyone, “Nothing captain, we’re all good over here.”

 

Levi eyed them all, sighing, “I’m not going to ask what’s going on, because I don’t really give a shit. All I know is that if your asses aren’t doing drills in ten seconds, you’re going to regret it.”

 

Eren was the first to spin on his heel ripping his arm out of Bertholt’s grasp and walking to the outfield to begin their drills. Everyone stood around for a couple seconds trying to determine what happened, but quickly followed suit as soon as Levi started yelling again.

 

After they completed their drills, Eren got a drink and announced he was going to the cages. Levi didn’t care, as long as they were doing something productive. Him and Erwin were currently going over positions and their upcoming schedule. He picked up his bat, and walked across the field. Jean was walking in the opposite direction, and Eren elected not to make eye contact, just wanted to finish this stupid practice and go to bed. The fire in him lit again when Jean roughly shoved him with his shoulder when he passed, knocking his bat out of his hand.

 

“What the _fuck?!”_ Eren spun around and shouted.

 

Jean kept walking without acknowledging Eren at all.

 

“Just like you to start something and run away like the pussy you are.” Eren spat at Jean’s back, turning to go to the cages. That was when he felt Jean’s arm grab his own and spin him around.

 

“What the fuck is your problem today, Jeager?” Jean said through his teeth.

 

“Don’t fucking touch me.” Eren said, ripping his arm out of Jean’s grip.

 

“Heh, you weren’t saying that a couple of days ago.” Jean said smugly.

 

Eren lunged at Jean, tackling him to the ground, fist gripping Jean’s jersey, lifting his torso off the ground. He brought Jean’s face close, venom practically dripping in his tone, “Shut. The. _Fuck._ Up.”

 

Jean smirked, “I’d like to see you make me.”

 

With that, Eren coiled back and punched Jean straight in the face.

 

Before he could do anything else, Eren felt a hand in his hair, roughly pulling him backwards and throwing him to the ground and off of Jean.

 

“What the _fuck_ do you two think you’re doing?” Levi said glaring between Eren and Jean.

 

Eren was rubbing the back of his head where Levi had pulled and glared back.

 

“Answer me, or so help me God.” Levi said, voice giving off a warning that he wasn’t joking in the slightest.

 

“Jean is a piece of shit that needed to be taught a lesson.” Eren said, glaring at Jean who had blood dripping from his nose. Armin was running back to the dugouts to get their medical kit.

 

“Yeah, he is, and where I agree with your method of teaching, I refuse to let it happen on my team. Jeager, you’re suspended.” Levi said with finality in his voice.

 

Eren jumped up, “Are you fucking serious he started-“ Eren was going to say that Jean started it when Levi cut him off.

 

“I don’t give a shit who started it, you are fucking five years old. All I see is Jean with a possible bloody nose and his blood on your fist. And I don’t tolerate fighting on my team. Well, at least in front of me and during practice.” Levi shouted at Eren, silencing him.

 

“Get off the field.” Levi said, eyes daring Eren to challenge him.

 

Eren stood there shocked for a minute. He managed to get himself suspended. He looked back at Jean who was holding the bridge of his nose, wincing. He slowly processed the situation and willed his muscles to move again. He slowly bent down, grabbed his bat and walked away without another word and without making eye contact with anyone.

 

How did any of this happen? He was in a bad mood. He was in a bad mood because he hadn’t talked to Jean and felt used and upset. Then he saw Jean flirting with someone else and got… No, he wasn’t jealous. He was pissed that Jean will flirt with anyone as if Eren wasn’t nothing. To sum it up, he was hurt. He was really fucking hurt. And it was all Jean’s fault. But did that really give him the right to say what he did? He hadn’t even heard Jean’s side of the story. He groaned, confused about the whole situation, and could feel tears burning in the back of his eyes.

 

When he reached the dugout, Armin was there and he avoided eye contact, but that didn’t stop Armin from rushing up to him. He grabbed his bag, and Armin was fussing over him when he saw Eren’s expression, knowing full well the state he was in. Eren ignored Armin, telling him to do his job and help Jean. Armin hesitated, but when he looked over at Jean, he gave one last glance at Eren before running over. Eren walked back to the dorms, a lump in his throat, his heart heavy and his eyes stinging, and having no clue what was going on inside of him right now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> LOOK I ALREADY APOLOGIZED BUT THE KID IS A HOT HEAD WHAT DO YOU EXPECT?! HE'S HURT AND CONFUSED AND YEAH IT'S KIND OF A MESS RIGHT NOW BUT BUT BUT IM SORRY ITS FINE BYE


	10. Chapter Ten

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ITS BEEN DECADES SINCE IVE UPDATED I AM SO SORRY MIDTERMS AND COLLEGE SUCKS 10/10 DOES NOT RECOMMEND (im lying all you kiddies better go get a higher education if you can afford it)

The following week was hell, not only for Jean and Eren, but for the rest of the dorm as well. Jean and Eren both had murderous aura’s coming from their rooms and were in terrible moods since then. Mikasa was also in a bad mood, because Eren was in a bad mood, and she also had her death glare pointed at Jean. Armin and Marco had to deal with them since they roomed with the two boys, trying to make casual conversation and trying to cheer the other up, regardless how futile their efforts were.

 

Armin had carefully reminded Eren in the morning that room inspections were that evening. Armin’s side was spotless, mess made him nervous. He stopped caring over Eren’s side eventually because there was just no helping it, the boy was a mess in general. He had clothes strewn everywhere, empty soda cans littering his desk, papers and books everywhere, and his bed was absolutely never made. Luckily, Armin knew this coming in, he was hoping he’d rub off on Eren a bit and try and make him a cleaner person, but that was failed from day one.

 

Eren brushed off Armin’s reminder, and just stayed in bed, letting the emotions swirling inside of him simmer. He hadn’t stopped thinking about that practice since that day. He was still angry, though he didn’t know if it was at Jean or more directed towards himself. He was guilty, because he said some awful things at Jean, and broke his nose. He was upset, because now he didn’t have Jean at all, friend or enemy.

 

Jean acted as if Eren didn’t exist at all. If Eren entered a room, he’d leave. If he couldn’t leave, he wouldn’t acknowledge his presence at all. Initially, this pissed Eren off, but thinking about it, he knew that Jean had every reason to do that, no matter how much he didn’t want to admit it.

 

Eren grumbled and rolled over in his bed, facing the room instead of the wall. Armin had a 9 am, and Eren didn’t have class that day. He looked at the room and noted how pristine Armin’s side was, and looked around his side and noted how his was a disaster. Suddenly, all he imagined was Levi coming in and making his life even more miserable than it already was and he groaned and sat up, deciding that he was going to clean up so he didn’t have to deal with him.

 

~

 

Eren had finished around noon, got lunch, and sat on his freshly made bed with his laptop in his lap, waiting until inspections. Armin had commented on how great it looked, probably because the floor on his side hasn’t been seen since move in day. The cleaning had taken his mind slightly off of everything, so he just kept cleaning until he couldn’t anymore. Everything on his desk was supposed to be there, and neat, all trash was out in the garbage in the hallway, clothes, if dirty in the hamper, if clean folded and put away, bed made. He was rather proud of himself, he never cleaned this much. He’d like to see Levi try and comment poorly on this.

 

Thinking of Levi reminded Eren of practice and his mood suddenly turned sour again. He moped at his computer, bad mood growing as his mind wouldn’t stop giving him reminders of how close he and Jean had become, and how much he loved his company. He sulked in time with his thoughts right until Levi burst in without warning.

 

“Alright you brats, get up.” He demanded.

 

Armin jumped off of his desk chair and stood perfectly straight next to his bed. Eren snorted at how it somehow reminded him of a prison cell inspection, or an army bunk inspection with how serious Armin was.

 

“I’m sorry, was something I said funny?” Levi turned his attention to Eren at the noise.

 

Eren smiled sweetly, hostility coating his tone, “no, nothing at all, _sir.”_

 

Levi’s gaze pierced Eren’s soul, “Stand. Up.”

 

Eren shot Levi a disinterested gaze and slowly stood up, leaning against the bed defiantly, crossing his arms over his chest. He didn’t know why he was doing it, probably the bad mood, but he couldn’t stop himself from pushing Levi’s buttons.

 

Levi’s eyebrows raised, showing Eren that his patience was running thin. Armin was shooting Eren desperate looks, trying to get him to just deal with Levi for the five minutes he was going to be in here.

 

Eren ignored Armin, started back at Levi and slowly stood up straight.

 

“That’s what I thought.” Levi said, before shooting him another glare and walking around the room, staring everything down.

 

Eren rolled his eyes, letting out a silent sigh. Levi was _not_ helping his mood in the slightest.

 

“I’m surprised you managed to do something right for once Jeager. I expected Armin’s side to be clean, but you, not so much.” Levi said to Eren.

 

Anger flared up inside of Eren, “Where the fuck do you manage to pack such a big ego inside such a tiny body? Compensating for something?”

 

“I’m sorry, _what?_ ” Levi asked incredulously.

 

Armin looked like he was seconds from having a panic attack.

 

“I don’t really think I stuttered.” Eren challenged.

 

Levi held Eren’s gaze, and stood there silently. Eren looked down at him, doing the same. After a while Levi said with clenched teeth, “Armin. Leave.”

 

“I – uh,” Armin sputtered.

 

“Now.” Levi’s volume increased which must’ve shocked the soul out of Armin because he quickly gathered his things and left the room. Levi walked over to the door and locked it. He took a deep breath before turning around and crossing his arms over his chest.

 

“Now, you’re going to tell me what the fuck is wrong with you that makes you think you can talk to me that way.” Levi said calmly.

 

“Pretty sure there’s this thing called ‘freedom of speech’ and it’s not as if you’re a professor or anything, so, I think I can talk to you however I would like to.” Eren shrugged.

 

“I would commend you for the balls you have to do this, but right now you’re really starting to piss me off.”

 

Eren rolled his eyes and just threw himself on the bed and dropped his head into his hands. He was getting a headache.

 

“I know you’re a fucking brat with anger issues,” Levi sighed and ran a hand through his hair, “But you’re not ever this bad. Does this have anything to do with what happened with Kirstein?”

 

Eren peeked up at Levi and snorted, “What? Are _you_ going to attempt sympathy and give me advice?”

Levi shrugged, “No to the sympathy and no to the advice. I’m just telling you to get your head out of your ass and apologize to him. Your guys’ bad moods are throwing everyone off and it’s a pain for me to deal with.”

 

Eren rolled his eyes again, “It’s not like you understand.”

 

“I don’t know the details because, frankly, I don’t give a shit. But I know you two are in love with each other but are too big of jackasses to admit it.” Levi said matter-of-factly.

 

Eren sputtered and his head snapped up to look at Levi, “What that isn’t – we aren’t – he doesn’t – I –“

 

“Give it a rest. I don’t want to hear your shitty excuses. Just fix your attitude if you ever want to come back to the team. And now that I’ve finally attempted to talk some sense into you, you’ve given me a headache. So I’m leaving.” And with that, Levi turned on his heel, unlocked the door and left without another word.

 

Eren stared at the door, mouth agape, and in shock. Levi had attempted advice, or so it seemed, and voiced something Eren had shoved to the back of his mind the moment the theory started growing. He started panicking as he couldn’t shove the thought back down. He grabbed his headphones and started blasting music and threw himself on the bed face first trying to drown everything out.

 

~

A few hours had passed and his mind still hadn’t shut up. It wasn’t true. What Levi said wasn’t true. But… if it was… did that mean… Jean… Eren slapped his cheeks a couple of times to try and stop his train of thought. He wouldn’t think about that. So he thought about something else. Levi said he should apologize. Armin mentioned it once, but quickly dropped it when Eren shot daggers at him with his eyes. He initially thought that Jean should apologize, but Jean doesn’t know what he did. He doesn’t know that he made Eren insanely jealous because he was in –

 

Eren violently shook his head. It’s not true. It isn’t. Nope. No way. He turned his music up a couple bars to attempt drowing it out again. It was working until…

 

_“so get out, get out, get out of my head, and fall into my arms instead”_

Eren quickly skipped the song and deemed it as a coincidence.

 

_“I don’t really wanna love you, I don’t even care that much, I just wanna see the day when I don’t think of you”_

Eren glared at his phone and skipped this song too.

 

_“You’re always there, you’re everywhere, and right now I wish you were here”_

Next.

 

_“I hate you, I love you, I hate that I love you”_

“Are you fucking kidding me?!” Eren shouted as he ripped off his headphones and threw them on the ground. So much for listening to music. He was fuming at the songs, knowing that he should go apologize, because it would make everyone feel better, _not_ because of any other reason. Eren was calming down when suddenly Armin burst into the room scaring the living shit out of Eren.

 

“It’s too cliché, I won’t say I’m in love!” Armin belted off key, eyes closed with his earphones in.

 

Eren groaned loudly and threw himself on the floor, scaring Armin.

 

“Eren?! Are you okay?!” Armin asked frantically.

 

“No! I’m not! The world is out to get me apparently!” He said into the carpet.

 

“What do you mean?” Armin asked confused.

 

Eren just shook his head, nose scraping against the carpet. It was quiet for a few seconds, until he heard the quiet song through Armin’s earphones.

 

_“We’ll do it until you admit you’re in love”_

Eren roughly pushed himself off the ground and shouted, “FUCKING FINE! I’ll do it!” Obviously some diety was out to get him and wouldn’t leave him alone until he resolved this conflict.

 

“Do what…?” Armin asked, flustered and confused at the very frantic Eren.

 

Eren didn’t bother answering, just angrily threw open the door, and slammed it behind him, marching down the hall and banging on a door without even thinking.

 

The door swung open, “What the fuck?”

 

Eren locked eyes with Jean and everything inside of him just went into overdrive and he completely blanked out, heart pounding and mind reeling. _Shit._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HERE TAKE IT IM SORRY IT TOOK SO LONG I REVISED THIS LIKE SEVENTY TIMES AND I STILL DONT KNOW IF IM OKAY WITH IT BUT WHATEVER WHATS DONE IS DONE


	11. Chapter Eleven

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> IM IN A GREAT MOOD BECAUSE I ACED MY CALC EXAM AND MY PROGRAMMING EXAM SO I DECIDED TO COME HOME AND WRITE THIS SHORT THING FOR YOU GUYS

Jean was concentrating on his homework and desperately trying to silence any thoughts about Eren. He couldn’t help but think of him when he would look in the mirror, slight discoloration on his face from the healing of his broken nose. The swelling had gone down, and the darker shades of the bruise had faded, and there was rarely ever pain unless he forgot about it and rubbed his nose. He was angry. Yes, at Eren but a lot at himself as well. He _missed_ Eren. He missed talking to him and hanging out with him. It had been over two weeks since the last time they had a real conversation. It was a little over a week since the fight. The last time they had a real conversation was when they discussed their little escapade. Since then, everything just wasn’t right. He never realized how _right_ it was having Eren in his life. Yeah, of course he was pissed that Eren punched him and said what he did. It really fucking hurt, both physically and emotionally, and he didn’t even know what he did wrong. He was just, so angry, at everyone and everything and what he wanted most was to just talk to Eren and forget everything but at the same time he was the last person he ever wanted to see. He let out a sigh and dropped his forehead to his desk.

 

“Are you okay?” He heard Marco ask from across the room.

 

Jean rolled his head to the side and glared at him, “No I’m not fucking _okay_ Marco.”

 

Marco shyed away from the harsh tone a little, and Jean felt a little bad but at the same time, Marco should know he’s very not okay.

 

“…Do you wanna talk about it?” He asked quietly.

 

“Talk about what? How I’m a fucking moron because the one person I desperately want to talk to just so happens to be the one that broke my nose? And I know you’ll just be like ‘so what just talk to him!’ but I can’t! I just can’t! What am I supposed to do? Walk up to him and go ‘Hey Eren! I know we haven’t talked since we drunkenly hooked up and deemed it a mistake because you don’t _actually_ have feelings for me and then a week later you broke my nose for some unknown reason, but like none of that matters because I fucking miss you and I’m in-‘”

 

Before Jean could get the last of his sentence out there was a loud banging on the door. If he wasn’t pissed before he was now. He jumped out of his chair, and swung open the door yelling “What the fuck?!” as he did.

 

And then he just, stopped. He was seething in anger but at the same time every thought and instinct he had just died because Eren was standing there. In front of him. Looking like a deer in headlights.

 

“I- uh, uhm” Eren fumbled with his words.

 

“Did you forget how to speak or?” If Jean was anything, it was always sarcastic.

 

“Uhm, can I talk to you?” Eren asked almost sheepishly.

 

“Alright. Talk.” Jean stated simply. He did notice the slightly crestfallen look Eren gave when he didn’t let him in. Honestly, that was just because he didn’t want to be under Marco’s watchful eye, even though he knew he could hear the conversation.

 

Eren took a deep breath and started, “So, um, first I want to apologize. For, y’know punching you, and calling you the things I did. It was childish and my reasoning was stupid.”

 

Jean cocked an eyebrow, “Which was?”

  
Eren flushed a little, “Well, to start things off I was having a rather bad day. And then when we got to practice, I, uh, saw you and that guy and overheard you talking to the other guys and I guess it didn’t sit very well with me and you know how I can’t control my stupid actions when I’m worked up.”

 

Jean’s heart beat a little faster at that, “So… you were jealous?”

 

Eren blanched and then a small smirk adorned his face, “I just can’t have you falling in love with someone before me.”

 

Oh yeah, Jean’s heart was definitely racing now. He took in a deep breath to try and steady it, “Well, you read the situation all wrong. Sort of.”

 

Eren turned confused and just cocked his head to the side. Jean took that as a sign to continue.

 

“See, I get good grades right. Well, this one test didn’t go over so well.” He wasn’t going to add in the fact it was because he couldn’t focus because it was after their hook up and he was stressing about it, “The Teaching Assisstant for said class has been eyeing me up since day one. Let’s just say I was trying to motivate him a little to raise it a letter grade. Granted, I wasn’t going to actually do anything, I’m not that type of guy,” He said pointedly which made Eren look guilty, “but a little flirting never killed anyone. I’m not really proud of it, but when times get tough.” And ended it with a shrug.

 

He almost saw Eren visibly relax at his explanation. Was he worried? He was hoping he was jealous, but he didn’t want to get _too_ hopeful.

 

“Oh… that’s… that’s good.” Eren fidgeted a little, he looked as if he wanted to say something else but was physically biting it down.

 

Jean was going to speak when Eren chimed in before he could, “Well, I just wanted to apologize because I felt really bad for reacting like that without explaining myself. So, I’m sorry again. I hope it’s healing well and I hope you have a good day.” He hesitated a bit and then nodded his head and went to walk away.

 

Jean stood there for a second before turning to go into his room. He was about to close the door when he heard Marco speaking obnoxiously loud on the phone.

 

“You are SO RIGHT Armin! The carnival this weekend does sound REALLY FUN.” He paused as if waiting for a response, “It IS a great date spot. It’s also a great spot to TELL SOMEONE THEIR TRUE FEELINGS. I’m so glad you agree with me Armin!”

 

Jean cocked an eyebrow at the not so subtle hints Marco was throwing his way. He threw up his middle finger and then spun around and threw open the door and shouted, “Eren!” down the hallway.

 

Eren had just reached his room, his hand was on the door handle when he stopped and turned around, “Yeah?” he called back.

 

Jean took in a deep breath and went for it. He jogged down the hall and stopped in front of Eren, “It would make me really happy if you went to the carnival this weekend with me.”

 

Eren went wide eyed and red faced as he just blinked at Jean as if he was trying to process what just happened.

 

“Think of it as compensation for this.” Jean pointed at his nose, smiling, “So, please?”

 

Eren suddenly broke into a huge smile and threw his arms around Jean with a loud, “yes!”

 

Jean froze at the action and Eren must’ve felt it because he suddenly retracted, face an even deeper red than before.

 

“I-um, homework, so, carnival, this weekened. Bye!” Eren practically flew into his room and slammed the door.

 

Jean tentatively placed a hand to his chest to feel his heart racing. He couldn’t stop himself from beaming the whole way back to his room. He walked in and slowly closed the door. He turned and Marco cocked an eyebrow while he was grinning.

 

Jean just nodded and Marco cheered.

 

Jean rolled his eyes and sat on his bed, “Why don’t you go and tell Armin huh?”

 

Marco smirked back at him, “Who said I was talking to Armin?”

 

Jean realized he just got completely played and chucked a pillow at Marco’s head, who caught it laughing. Jean fell back onto the bed and threw his arm over his face to cover his smile. Finally, things were going right.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, it's short but next one will hopefully be long! I'm so here for matchmaker Marco and college sucks less so hopefully I can get updates out sooner! Thank y'all for being amazing!


	12. Chapter Twelve

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> THIS IS SO LONG BE WARNED. I couldn't find a good place to cut it, so I decided to make it one long chapter to keep the emotion in it. GOOD LUCK.

Alright Eren would be lying if he said he wasn’t overwhelmed. There were smells of various types of food, music and screams filled the air, and there were colors _everywhere._ He felt like his senses were in overdrive as they stood in the entrance of the carnival.

 

“Wow, this is really impressive.” Jean said, it seemed like it was mostly to himself, since he was staring around their surroundings in awe.

 

 _Right. Jean._ Eren thought. Another thing to add to his brain reaching close to capacity. He momentarily forgot the whole reason that he was there. They were on a date. There was no denying that fact. Jean had asked him to accompany him to the carnival, and even denied requests for it to be a group thing.

 

“So, what first?” Jean looked at Eren excitedly.

 

“Hmm…” Eren tapped on his chin in thought, “Let’s just walk around for a bit and whatever we come across that seems interesting we go for?”  


“Sounds like a plan!” Jean beamed at Eren.

 

Eren’s heart fluttered at the expression. It had been ages since Jean had looked at him like that. Eren couldn’t help but smile in return.

 

They walked around the grounds and Eren’s insides churned the whole time in nervousness. His eyes darted around looking for something to do so that this awkward silence wouldn’t continue. He saw a game booth that you had to shoot the targets and Eren’s interest piqued, remembering the conversation he had with Marco.

~

 

_“Hey, Marco, I need to talk to you.”_

_“What’s up Eren?”_

_“So, I’m pretty sure you know that Jean and I are going to the carnival together, so can you please tell me what he likes to do there so that it can be perfect?”_

_“You’re… asking me for date advice?”_

_Marco stifled a laugh._

_“I know, it’s pathetic, but I want to make it up to him. He… he means a lot to me.”_

_Marco smiled, “Alright, he’s a big fan of sweets, so get him a candy apple or cotton candy or something like that. Preferrably shareable. He loves those dumb carnival games, especially the shooting or throwing ones, he’s got decent aim. He loved haunted houses, and he’ll claim he can kick your ass at arcade games. And he’s a romantic so at the end of the night, go on the ferris wheel with him during the fireworks.”_

_“It’s almost as if you have this planned…”_

_“You asked for my help.”_

_“Right! Sorry, you’re a lifesaver!”_

_~_

 

“Hey, that looks cool!” Eren tried to say as nonchalantly as possible while gesturing over to the booth.

 

He watched Jean’s face light up as he said, “Those types of games are my favorite! Watch the master do his work.” He rolled his sleeves as he walked over to the booth and paid for a game.

 

Right before Jean was given the cue to start, he turned around and shot Eren a wink.

 

As much as Eren loved playing these, he really enjoyed watching Jean play. The focus in his eyes, the coiling of his back muscles as he leaned over the stall, the clenching of his jaw as he sized up his target. Eren exclaimed in surprise and a bit of awe when Jean knocked down each target with one shot. Before he knew it, Jean was finished and beaming.

 

“Well, looks like I won.” Jean said proudly, showing him his prize.

 

Eren giggled when he saw it was a brown eyed, tan furred stuffed horse.

 

Jean rolled his eyes, “haha very funny, I don’t even wanna hear a joke. I’m not keeping it though, I’m giving it to my cheerleader.”

 

Jean’s eyes were sparkling as he held out the toy to Eren, cheeks lightly dusted pink.

 

Eren blinked a couple of times and tentatively took it, a warm feeling spreading throughout his chest and his face flushing a deep red, “Th-thank you…”

 

He looked down at it and stroked the soft fur, a small smile falling across his lips as he squeezed the toy in his hand.

He looked up at Jean with eyes shining with happiness and big grin on his face, “I have a craving for cotton candy, let’s go get some!”

 

Without thinking, Eren grabbed Jean’s hand and led him to the concession stand where they were selling cotton candy, heart soaring a new-found confidence blossoming in his chest.

 

~

 

Jean felt like his heart was about to explode, from the stress of giving Eren the to and the current situation, which was Eren’s hand clasped tightly around his. His hand was warm, a bit calloused from baseball, but soft at the same time.

 

A burning sensation was running up his arms at the point of connection, and he was pretty sure that Eren could see his heart about to jump out of his chest. Without letting go of his hand, Eren ordered the cotton candy and led them to a little picnic table.

 

When Eren let go of his hand, it was to sit across from him. Jean was wracking his brain with something to say as he watched Eren rip a piece of the fluff off. Eren looked up and smiled, extended his arm and said, “Open up.”

 

Jean looked from Eren’s smiling face to the cotton candy and tentatively parted his lips and Eren pushed the sugar into his mouth. Both of their faces were dusted pink as they shared the sweet.

 

Eren looked over at Jean and went, “Oh, you have a little…” And leaned across the table and swiped at his lower lip.

 

Jean felt like everything went in slow motion when he felt the pad of his thumb drag across his lip. Eren leaned back, examined his thumb and then stuck it in his mouth. Jean just watched with wide eyes and jaw nearly on the table.

 

Eren smiled mischievously, a spark in his eyes as he said, “Sweet.” And winked.

 

Jean seriously thought he was going to die.

 

Eren suddenly jumped up and said, “I saw something back there that I wanted to try, come with?”

 

Jean, unable to speak, just nodded in response. Eren yet again grabbed his hand and dragged him through the sea of people.

 

They stopped in front of a claw machine.

 

Jean cocked an eyebrow and went, “Seriously? You know these things are rigged right, you’re just wasting your money.”

 

Eren fake pouted and went, “You should have a bit more faith in your date, sweet stuff.”

 

Jean choked on air, and Eren spun around and put a dollar in the machine. Jean would’ve been less intrigued if he didn’t remember the conversation he had with Armin the other night.

 

~

_“Armin, I need your advice.”_

_“Carnival? Eren? Right?”_

_Jean rolled his eyes, “Marco told you?”_

_Armin stifled a grin, “Yeah, let’s go with that.”_

_“Alright, well, he’s got a sweet tooth so he’s going to go for a bunch of candy. He also has ridiculous luck and will probably go for the claw machines, I’d just watch, you’d be surprised. You know how competitive he is so you’ll both have a great time if you play some arcade games. He tries to act courageous, but take him into a haunted house and he’ll be clinging to you the whole time. Oh, and at the end of the night, during the fireworks, take him on the ferris wheel. Romantic stuff gets him super flustered, and that’s a sight to see.”_

_“Did you and Marco plan this out or something?”_

_“Innocent Marco and I?_ Never.”

_“I really hate you guys.”_

_“Uh huh, you say that now.”_

_~_

 

Jean watched carefully as Eren positioned the claw over an animal and watched the time tick down as he did miniscule adjustments to the positioning. The machine started making a noise, indicating that the time was up and it was going to drop, Eren just stepped back hands on his hips and a smug smile on his lips. Jean watched the claw drop with baited breath as it wrapped around the head of a bear.

 

“No way…” Jean said in awe as he watched it come back up, animal in it’s grasp. Eren’s smile just widened as it came above the deposit box and dropped it. He bent down and took it out, “First try. What’d I say?”

 

Jean blinked at the toy in his hand, eyebrows raised as he looked back up at Eren, “I’m impressed.”

 

“Well, for having faith in me, I _suppose_ I could give you this.” Eren said in fake sarcasm.

 

Jean took a good look at the toy for the first time. It was a brown haired bear with green eyes and a bright green bow around it’s neck.

 

Jean smiled and took it from him, “Did you really have to go for the one that looks like you though?”

 

Eren scoffed, “I’m much manlier than a teddy bear, I’m like a ferocious wild bear.”

 

“Well, you have the temperament to match.” Jean said, tapping on his nose.

 

Eren’s expression fell a little, “I told you I’m sorry for that.”

 

Jean grabbed his chin to tilt Eren’s head up to look at him and brushed a thumb across his cheek, “And I told you that I forgive you.”

 

Eren pursed his lips and looked to the side, “But did you, though? If I recall, I don’t think that I remember the words ‘I forgive you’ ever leaving that pretty mouth of yours, so who’s to say that I know that you forgive me?”

 

Jean could see the sides of Eren’s mouth twitching, trying to stop himself from grinning.

 

So he wanted to play that way huh?

 

Jean cocked and eyebrow and looked at Eren through his lashes, “Did I not?” Jean stepped closer to Eren, foreheads almost touching as he held eye contact as he said in a gravelly voice, “Well, I could always show you just how much I forgive you.”

 

Eren stared back with wide eyes, looking like a deer in headlights.

 

Got him.

 

“I – uh, we, um, I have to go to the bathroom, I’ll be right back.” And Eren took off.

 

Jean bit his bottom lip to stop himself from bursting out laughing, but he even worked himself up a bit. Eren truly had him wrapped around his finger.

 

~

Eren stood behind a booth with his phone pressed to his ear. His heart was racing, there was a thrumming under his skin and he was trying to get his breathing under control.

 

“Hello?”  


“Marco! Hi, help me.” He said rushed into the phone.

“Eren, what could you possibly need help with? I told you everything you need to know.” Marco replied.

 

“I know I know, I’m just freaking out, he did _something_ and I nearly imploded, and I have to do something about this.” Eren brought a hand up to his chest, as if he was trying to physically contain his heart.

 

“I told you, do the ferris wheel thing.” Marco said, obviously smiling, as if he was finding this amusing.

 

“ _I know_ but-“

 

“No, no buts. There’s only about, two or so more hours til sundown. What have you done?”

 

“He won me something and I won him something and we had cotton candy.” Eren explained.

 

“Alright, go do the haunted house, then you figure something out to do in between that and the fireworks.” Marco said.

 

“Are you sure-“

 

“Eren, calm down.” Marco said firmly.

 

“But-“

 

“Calm. Down. Trust me, everything is going to go well. Just, take a few deep breaths, and go back out there.” Marco told him.  
  
Eren closed his eyes and took a deep breath like he said, “Yeah, you’re right. Alright, thanks Marco.” And he hung up.

 

He turned and he walked back to Jean, telling himself that everything would be fine. He saw Jean sitting at a table near the claw machine, idly stroking the fur of the bear. Eren’s heart fluttered at the sight, happy that he enjoyed the gift.

  
“I’m back, sorry for running off.” Eren said sheepishly.

 

“It’s fine, seeing your flustered face was worth it.” Jean said smirking.

 

“This confidence of yours isn’t going to last long.” Eren said defiantly.

 

“Oh? And why’s that?” Jean asked.

 

“We’re going to the haunted house.” Eren replied.

“Am I supposed to be scared?” Jean said, cocking an eyebrow.

 

Eren rolled his eyes and nodded in the direction of the attraction.

 

After waiting in line and making small talk for about half an hour or so, they were finally up to go in. The operator took their tickets and ushered them inside.

 

It was dark and Eren’s eyes darted around for anything ready to jump out.

 

“Are you scared?” Jean said jokingly.

 

“What? Of course not.” Eren said in retaliation.

 

“Then let’s go.”

 

Jean started walking and Eren reflexively grabbed the sleeve of his shirt. Totally only because he didn’t want to get separated because it was dark. Honest.

 

Suddenly, someone clad completely in black screamed in Eren’s face and he let out a high pitched squeal and buried his face into Jean’s shoulder, which resulted in a chuckle.

 

However, the same thing happened further in, but to Jean, who ended up doing the same thing.

 

After about fifteen minutes of people screaming in their faces and both of them screaming in return, orange light filtered out of a door and one last person said, “Good for you, barely surviving.”

 

They stepped out into the fair grounds again.

 

“You weren’t scared huh?” Jean asked, looking at Eren, who was practically attached to his arm. Left hand intertwined with Jean’s right, right arm hooked around his forearm.

 

“Me? Scared? Please.” Eren said. He didn’t let go.

 

“Really? Then why haven’t you let go yet?” Jean asked, a smile playing at his lips.

 

“I’m just comforting you. I heard a couple of girlish screams in there.” Eren said, letting go with his right arm, but not letting go of his hand.

 

“I think you just heard the echoes of your own screams.” Jean joked.

 

Eren pushed him and Jean laughed. They walked in silence for a bit, and Eren was going to reluctantly let go of Jean’s hand. When he loosened his grip, Jean’s tightened.

 

Eren looked over at him and Jean said, “I’m still not completely comforted yet.”

 

Eren smiled at him, heart fluttering and tightened his grip again.

 

They ended up getting fries to share and sat on a grassy hill, watching the sunset and poking fun at each other. In the end, the majority of the fries ended up getting thrown at each other. They were both silenced when a test firework went off, indicating that they were going to start soon.

 

“Hey-“ They both started at the same time.

 

“Oh you-“ They continued.

 

They blushed and chuckled awkwardly.

 

Jean looked at him and said, “You go first.”

 

Eren steeled his nerves and said, “Oh, all I was gonna do was suggest we go on the ferris wheel.”

 

Jean broke out into a huge grin, “It’s as if you read my mind.”   
  
Jean stood up and held his hand out to Eren, who grabbed it. Eren’s heart was beating rapidly and his breathing was a bit more erratic than he had been hoping. This was it.

 

~

Jean’s heart felt like it was about to beat out of his chest as they stood in line together for the ferris wheel. It felt simultaneously like time was stopped and moving a mile a minute. He had rehearsed what he was going to say so many times, but he was still so nervous. He could tell Eren was nervous too, because he could barely hold eye contact with Jean, not that Jean could do it either.

 

When they were boarded into their car, the air was thick. They didn’t say anything to each other as the ride started and they slowly started moving up.

 

Eren was the first to break the silence, “Today was really fun, I’m glad I decided to come with you.”

 

Jean smiled, “I’m glad I asked you.”

 

Silence.

 

They were nearing the top, and the breeze was stronger up at this height. Eren’s face was washed in purple as the sky darkened, the breeze ruffling his hair slightly, the moonlight making his eyes a different green than he had seen them. Jean’s heart was in his throat.

 

“Um, Jean?” Eren said tentatively.

 

“Yeah?” Jean replied, his insides were swirling.

 

“I really am sorry.” Eren said quietly.

 

“I know you already-“

 

Eren cut him off, “No, just, listen for a second. Yes, I am truly sorry for punching you, and… I’m sorry for lying to you.”

 

“Lying?” Jean asked carefully.

 

Eren took a deep breath, “The day after we hooked up. I lied. I didn’t want to forget it. I… I just didn’t know how to deal with it, because I didn’t think you wanted to acknowledge it. I’m sorry for pretending to be asleep when you left in the morning. Jean, you… you mean a lot to me. I was so worried that I was going to ruin what we had between us. And in the end, keeping it bottled up probably ruined things more than it would have if I just talked to you honestly, and I’m just, so sorry Jean.”

 

Eren’s eyes were wide, tears running down his face. Jean got up and carefully moved to sit next to him.

 

“Hey, hey, it’s okay. You didn’t ruin anything.” Jean said quietly, wiping the tears off of his cheek.

 

“I know this was all a game, I never expected things to end up this way. This got so much more complicated than it needed to be.” Eren said.

 

“Eren, it’s my turn to apologize.” Jean said, not moving his hand.

 

“For what?” Eren asked.

 

“The same as you. It’s ironic how similar we are. I didn’t want to say it was a mistake. It wasn’t a mistake in my eyes. I knew what I was doing, and I knew who I was doing it with, the alcohol was just a good excuse because I was too scared to face myself. And, flirting with that guy in front of you was shitty, I probably would’ve had the same reaction as you. You deserve everything and more, Eren. And I want to prove that to you from now on.” Jean explained.

  
Eren’s eyes widened and the first of the fireworks started as they were stopped at the top of the wheel.

 

“Eren, I love you.” Jean said, completely earnest, eyes shimmering as Eren’s silhouette was illuminated by the fireworks.

 

Eren’s eyes were threatening to spill over again as he threw his arms around Jean and said, “I love you too.” And kissed him for real.

 

Eren’s lips were warm and a little wet from the tears, but Jean could feel every emotion that was shared between the two of them. It was so _so_ right, to have Eren here, in his arms. Every sensation was overcome with _Eren._ His heart, his soul, his mind, all sounds muffled out save for the beating of his heart.

 

They broke apart and rested their foreheads against each other.

 

They smiled at each other, Jean’s thumb stroking absently over Eren’s cheek, Eren’s hands playing with the hair at the base of Jean’s neck.

 

Suddenly, Eren started giggling profusely.

 

“What?” Jean asked.

 

“You really just confessed to me, on a ferris wheel, during fireworks. How cliché can you get?” His eyes were brimming with happiness, and a light dusting of pink was over his cheekbones.

 

Jean rolled his eyes, “As a matter of fact, _you_ were the one who asked me to go on with you.”

 

Eren grinned at him, “You have a point.”

 

They stared at each other in comfortable silence before Eren broke it again, “You know, I really do have great luck.”

 

“Oh yeah? And why’s that?” He asked.

 

“Because I have the ability to do this whenever I want.” And Eren leaned in and kissed him again.

 

~

They got off the ferris wheel hand in hand, talking and laughing comfortably, when lo and behold, they were greeted at the exit.

 

“So, you guys finally confess?”

Marco and Armin were standing there, waiting, shit eating grins plastered on their faces.

 

“I fucking knew it!” Jean and Eren exclaimed at the same time, attacking their best friends.

 

They all laughed as they fell in a heap on the ground.

 

“Look, it worked didn’t it?” Armin said.

 

“Who knew the two of you could be so conniving.” Jean said incredulously.

 

“It’s always the quiet ones, man.” Eren said shaking his head.

 

“Maybe if you two weren’t so dense we wouldn’t have had to get involved.” Marco said rolling his eyes.

 

The group bickered as they walked over to the bonfire the fair had to end the night.

 

“So, who won?” Marco asked, roasting a marshmallow.

 

Jean and Eren looked at him quizzically.

 

“Did you two really forget this happened because of a bet?” Armin asked, though he wouldn’t be surprised.

 

“Oh, no, we were a bit busy.” Jean said a smirk donning his face.

 

Eren pushed him and covered his face in his shoulder.

 

“But, if we’re being honest, I think I lost before the bet even started.” Jean, staring down at Eren with a look that could only be labelled as adoration.

  
“I’m going to push you into the fire.” Eren said before kissing him again.

 

Marco and Armin pretended to be disgusted, but they were too relieved and they ended up watching the pair fondly as they bickered and flirted and fed each other s’mores. In reality, both of them lost because they couldn’t pinpoint when it happened, but in their eyes, they were both winners.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There it is! There's the end! It's finished! The two dorks found love! God this chapter was SO FUCKING CHEESY AND THE END MADE ME WANT TO DROWN MYSELF IN SUGAR BECAUSE IT WAS SO DISGUSTINGLY SWEET. I hope you guys are satisfied with the end! I'm so sorry it took so long, but I wanted it to be perfect. But that's it! This was such a ride and I am so grateful for each and every kudos and comment I got on this, I love every single one of you and I'm so glad you were there to witness the blooming love of two morons with me. If you want to follow me on tumblr, my URL is trashcanfairytale and my twitter is @ComicQueenSlays I'D LOVE TO TALK TO YOU GUYS BECAUSE YOU WERE ALL AMAZING. Alright, I'm done being gross and sappy now, THANK YOU SO MUCH AND HOPEFULLY I'LL HAVE A NEW STORY IN THE WORKS SOON!!!!


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